Twin Trouble
by truthful night
Summary: Tsuna knows firsthand the troubles with having a twin. He has an annoying twin sister himself. And because of his family, he experiences a lot of trouble. Contains OOC Tsuna and OCs. Shadows and Reflections V. 2.0
1. Prologue

**Prologue- The Past

* * *

**

_A man in a white lab coat ran around the lab shouting, "They got out!"_

_"What! How!" another demanded._

_"I-I don't know, but they are killing the rest of us." The man panted._

_The dying screams of their colleagues could be heard. Blood was splattered everywhere. The men saw a trident that was plunged into the corpses' hearts._

_"No, I don't want to die! I don't want to –" He was killed. The killer's single red eye looked at the lone survivor of that room._

_In another room, the men were killed by needles or claws. The men had gotten out the guns and were shooting aimlessly, not knowing whether they killed their own or the escapees. _

_A yo-yo was thrown and from it, needles shot out and pierced the brain. A hand that looked just like a human's, only with claws, tore at a man's chest._

_The other escapee was running through the halls, his halberd slitting the throats of those he passed. What blocked his way was a bulky man._

_"Stop. Do you dare to attack your family?" His voice was deep, but it did nothing to mask the shakiness. The killer also slit the man's throat without saying a word or batting an eye._

_He headed for the meeting room where the others were also headed._

_Orange fire burned inside the meeting room. The bodies would be dumped there to be disposed of when the others come back. The survivors were also there, unable to escape due to a black flame surrounding the room. The boss of the famiglia was among them was also there._

_"Why are you doing this? We have done nothing!"_

_The doors on three sides of the room opened revealing the other four. They all raised an eyebrow. "Nothing? You call human experiments nothing?" They walked through the fire without being burned._

_The captives thought that the fire was just an illusion and decided to escape through the door behind them._

_It opened, revealing the last two. That stopped their attempts. From behind the two, the walls were completely scorched, as were the men.  
_

_Bodies were dragged to the flame in the center and thrown there. They burned to ashes in just seconds, signifying the heat of the flame. Strangely though, even when the flames licked the hands of the killers, there were no signs of burns. And the ones who were standing nearest to it did not feel such immense heat. _

_The bodies were no longer and ashes covered the room, seeming almost like sand. Those who were let alive and in one piece were the boss and his six other guardians. Those who had killed the rest of his subordinates were the kids they had used for their human experiments. Kids who were between the ages of five and seven. Five boys and one girl. And four came from their famiglia.  
_

_A boy with brown hair and wide, brown eyes walked over to the orange flame and extinguished it by unknown means. "So, what are you doing next?" he asked of the boy who had mismatched eyes and navy blue hair in the shape of a pineapple._

_That boy just laughed. "Kufufu. Of course I'll be showing them how my dad had felt when they forced him to give me up for experimentation." His grip on his trident tightened._

_The boy with blond hair, brown eyes, and a scar from one cheek to the other had a look of anticipation while seeming to pant like a dog. His partner, a bespectacled boy with dull, blue eyes, dark hair, and a bar code on his cheek, pushed his glasses up and said nothing._

_The blonde girl with cerulean eyes sighed as she maintained the surrounding flames. She looked almost like the first boy. "I think all of you can speak in Italian now. The boss is clueless about Japanese."_

_They all switched to talking in Italian. "You're no fun at all. I was hoping to see their frightened faces to be outlined with the confusion of not knowing what we were talking about," complain the boy with pale blue hair and red eyes._

_Suddenly, the doors on all four sides of the room slammed open. They revealed several men who were neither enemies nor allies. Regardless of what they would be to them in the future, those men would soon taste living hell as they took the guardians into custody and the children for interrogation.

* * *

_

**And here's the list of changes I made.**

**1. The title**

**2. Shira's weapon and appearance**

**3. Gokudera doesn't call Tsuna a shrimp anymore**

**4. The past gets revealed at the start**

**5. This is no longer following the main storyline**

**6. I got rid of Soji and the Crimson Brothers**

**7. Lambo and I-Pin will be living in the Sawada Household from the beginning**

**8. Ryohei doesn't know about the mafia**

**9. Tsuna now has a crush on Kyoko**

**10. The Vongola know all about the twins**

**11. I added an extra OC.**

**12. Tsuna has glasses and no contacts  
**

**13. Chrome will be known as Nagi**

**14. Mukuro is now like Komui Lee from D Gray Man without the tears and the Komurins. He has a sister-like complex with Chrome. (revealed in three more chapters)  
**

**15. How in the world am I going to include Lanchia?**

**16. Bianchi and Dino are not engaged.**

**17. Shira's in the same class as Tsuna and the others**

**18. This now starts a couple days earlier**

**19. A new bazooka will be appearing and will be aimed at the extra OC**

**20. Haru doesn't know about the mafia.**

**21. I'm putting more words in ALL CAPS**

**22. More time skips**

**23. Adding some phobias**

**24. Reborn and Mukuro are on good terms**

**25. Mukuro is not going to stab Tsuna in the stomach**

**26. No Kokuyo Arc**

**27. Maybe no Varia Arc**

**28. More chapters based on the Daily Life Arc**

**29. Ryohei does not know Maximum Cannon yet **

**30. No Verde living in Namimori**

**31. There is no shack where Chrome lives**

**32. Yamamoto does something extra**

**33. We get translation notes**

**34. All author notes will be at the end instead of beginning and end.**

**35. No updates on Tsuna Thoughts on Fanfiction**

**36. More to come as the fic goes on (maybe).**

**So, how do you like this so far?  
**


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1- The Beginning of a Normal Day**

* * *

******Nine Years Later…**

**Friday, Oct. 8**

Beep, beep, beep, beep! Beep, beep, beep, beep! Be-! Click. From under the covers of the bed, an arm shot out, and the alarm clock was put on snooze. The sleeper would have ten more minutes of sleep unless…

"WAKE UP DAME-TSUNA!" That. The boy, Sawada "Dame-Tsuna" Tsunayoshi, threw his pillow at the one who'd yelled, a five-year-old boy with a dark afro and dressed in a cow suit.

The boy was Lambo, a freeloader at his house. Tsuna had made a mental note to see if the afro could hold a TV or something. That was no joke. The afro could hold a seemingly infinite amount of items, no matter what the size was. He was also a hitman from the Bovino Famiglia, but that was such a small famiglia, so no there was need to pay attention to the kid. However, the hitman from Hong Kong was. Her name was I-Pin, and she was also five years old, but she had learned Gyoza Kempo from one of the strongest hitmen in the world.

Why are two toddler hitmen freeloader at his house, you ask? Simple. They didn't have enough money for the trip to go back home. They spent it all on candy and other childish things. And then they decided to stay at Tsuna's house since they didn't have money for a hotel stay either. But why Tsuna's house of all the others? Tsuna was the future—though he'd rather not admit it—Vongola Decimo.

He smelled something remotely like garlic. _Speak of the devil,_ he thought as he lost control of his body. He got out of bed. "Alright, whose bright idea was to wake me up at 5 in the morning?"

The two kids laughed and ran behind a girl who had narrow blue eyes and blonde, messy, shoulder length hair. She was holding a pot in one hand and a ladle in the other. She was Tokugawa Shiragiku**(1)**, also known as Shira. She was Tsuna's twin sister. She had decided to use their mother's maiden name as a surname instead of Sawada just to give people a shock when they found out they were twins.

She put down the objects on her hands in disappointment. "Oh, well I guess Plan D was unnecessary. Oh, and you slept with your glasses on again," she informed before going back down to the kitchen with the kids.

"Eh?" He looked in the mirror to see messy brown hair, brown eyes, and a pair of glasses that was barely holding on to his left ear. He readjusted them and changed into the Namimori Middle uniform. He went downstairs, yawning.

"Kaa-san**(2)**, what's for breakfast?" he asked.

His mother was humming and paid no heed. Tsuna had a bad feeling. Whenever his mother hummed while cooking, it meant either they had a guest or his dad was coming home, which was impossible since he was 'supposedly' dead. Emphasis on the quotes. His body was still missing.

Shira and the kids were sitting at the table eating pancakes. "Oh, you're up?" she asked.

Tsuna grabbed a chair and sat down. "Who wouldn't be after all the wake-up calls? I'd hate to see what would come after Plan D," he grumbled. "By the way, what's the occasion?" He moved his plate away so the drooling Lambo wouldn't steal it.

She shrugged. "I don't know. She burned a postcard when I came down."

"That's strange. She always keeps postcards. Why else would we have a basement with postcards as the flooring?"

"Nyahahaha! The Bovino Famiglia is coming!" Lambo said. I-Pin was speaking in Chinese.

"Lambo, the Bovino Famiglia is still at war with some other famiglia," Tsuna informed.

"And Fon is already here. He has his own Gyouza Bun selling stall. You go there all the time, remember?" Shira asked.

Both kids hung their heads. "Ah, don't cry! I'm sure you'll be right someday!" Tsuna assured.

He finished his really early breakfast. "So, what are we doing this early?" he asked, washing the dishes himself since Nana was preoccupied.

She never gave an answer. Instead, a hyperactive voice coming from outside answered. "SAWADA, ARE YOU AWAKE TO THE EXTREME?" They had all covered their ears.

"Ryohei begged me to jog early in the morning with him, so I decided to drag you along," she then replied.

Tsuna opened the door to let in the white haired boy with a bandage on his nose and a scar above his left eye. "Ohayo**(3)**, Onii-san." Sasagawa Ryohei was the boxing team's captain, AKA Kyoko's brother.

"Ohayo, Sawada, Tokugawa!" he greeted the two.

Shira stood up. "It's nice to see that you're still loud in the mornings."

Tsuna did not share her sentiments. "You really should be a bit quieter."

"I'm extremely sorry!" he apologized in a slightly softer voice. The volume went from 101 to 95. Well, that was a start.

They went out and started the two-and-a-half hour jog.

* * *

"Sawada, why are you lagging behind to the extreme?" Ryohei asked after a while.

Tsuna was panting. "Why? Well, Shira is walking, and we've been jogging nonstop for two hours. Correction: We've been sprinting nonstop for two hours. I am Dame-Tsuna, you know."

Shira walked up to them. "Oi, Ryohei, take a break for a moment. I don't care if you're always in dying-will mode. Just take things a hundred notches down."

Ryohei stopped running. "Tokugawa, I thought you were extremely behind us."

She shrugged. "I'm just a fast walker. And you stopped for a while. It gave me plenty of time to catch up with you boys."

"By the way, Sawada," Ryohei started, "is it true you were kidnapped ten years ago?"

The twins stiffened. That was a subject better left unsaid. "Well… it is, but why do you ask?"

"Hmm. I had a dream and this extreme guy who looked almost like me was rambling about it and God," he replied.

Tsuna clenched his fist. _Damn that Knuckle for spilling the beans. The last thing we need is your reincarnation in the mafia. _Yes, Ryohei had absolutely no clue about the mafia.

"Yo Tsuna! What are you doing so early in the morning?" a boy carrying a baseball bat asked them. He was fourteen years old and had black hair and light brown eyes.

"Ohayo, Yamamoto-kun. Ryohei dragged us along for his morning sprint," Shira replied. She decided to ignore the fact that he was swinging a baseball bat at her brother's head. To her, it was as normal as the sun rising and setting.

Yamamoto Takeshi was the school's baseball star. Three years ago, he broke his arm practicing too hard. He had attempted suicide by jumping off the school roof, which was more than three stories off the ground. The only reason why he's still alive today was because Tsuna had unintentionally acted as a cushion. Truth be told, Tsuna could care less about what happened to the baseball player. Until a voice in his dream had told him to prevent the boy from dying. Said voice was the Yamamoto's lookalike.

Since then, Tsuna has had to keep a close eye on him to make sure he wouldn't attempt suicide again, which happened over and over and over again. So Tsuna was very, very grateful when the arm healed and he could play baseball again. Of course, that didn't stop him from breaking his leg the next time. Again with the suicide. Yamamoto was forced to drink milk everyday to make sure something like that wouldn't happen again. But he still broke the other arm. Yamamoto officially became known as a suicidal maniac whenever a bone was broken, and Tsuna became known as the suicide savior. Ah, the joy of memories.

But unlike Ryohei, Yamamoto had known about the whole mafia business for four years. Though that didn't stop him from befriending the twins. The reason he was swinging his bat was to keep Tsuna's reflexes from rusting. Or so he says. There was a suspicion that it was a way of venting out his anger of everything.

And that was a typical start of the day for the twins. However, that would soon change when they went to school a half hour later.

* * *

The teacher came into the classroom. "Class, we have a transfer student," he, Mr. Nezu, announced.

Chatter started up amongst the students about the transfer student's gender, looks, personality, and his or her type. The door slid open to reveal a silver-haired youth with emerald eyes smoking a cigarette. He wrote his name on the chalkboard, breaking the chalk occasionally and sometimes making the sound not unlike nails on the chalkboard. It read, "Gokudera Hayato."

"I'm from Italy," was the only introduction he gave.

"Right. You can sit in the seat next to Tokugawa-san. Tokugawa-san, be nice to this one. I don't want to hear how you froze his seat." He raised an eyebrow. The incident had been a complete mystery. Efforts to defrost the seat had been in vain, yet the next morning, any sign of the ice had been erased. Not even a puddle was left.

Shira opened her mouth to protest. The teacher would have none of that. She instead glared at Tsuna in front of her. The ice was his doing. All because the last student had made fun of her. He wasn't known to be overprotective, but that guy had used every prank in the book on her, except for the things that were seemingly impossible, such as freezing the seat.

Gokudera walked to his seat. Before actually sitting down, he kicked Tsuna's desk, sending everything on top on the floor. Mostly the whole classroom laughed as he picked everything up.

"Che. Why is someone as weak as you…" he trailed off. Apparently, the thought of it aggravated him so much that he broke his pencil among other things.

Tsuna picked everything up and sat back down. He hiied when the transfer student and his sister glared at him.

**Lunch Break**

Tsuna sighed as he let down his Dame-Tsuna façade. "Why did we even think of such a thing?"

Yamamoto took a sip from his milk carton. "Isn't it because in Tokyo, you were a troublemaker?"

"No, he was just out of it when we first transferred here in first grade," Shira corrected.

"Tsuna-kun?"

Tsuna reverted back to the former personality. "K-Kyoko-chan? I-is there something you want?"

There was his first crush, with light brown hair and even lighter eyes. Her dark-haired friend was also with her. "I was just wondering if Onii-chan was bothering you."

"N-no, not at all!" Tsuna replied.

Yamamoto laughed. "Tsuna, you're turning red!"

"Tsuna-kun, do you have a fever?" Kyoko asked. What a nice misunderstanding.

"Hana, remind me how my hopefully-esteemed brother has a crush on her," Shira requested.

Tsuna raised an eyebrow that was not Dame-like. "Hopefully-esteemed? Are you implying that I am as Dame as I act?"

Hana pinched the bridge of her nose. "Thank goodness Kyoko is the only one who isn't in the mafia and completely dense. If she was sharp, then I don't know what would happen."

"Here, here," Shira agreed, "but that still doesn't answer my question."

Hana sighed. "Probably because she's the school's idol along with you."

"Don't remind me about that fact. You have no idea how many confessions I get each month. Wait—!" Shira had forgotten that…

"Twenty times. I know. I'm the informant here." …Kurokawa Hana was the top informant. She occasionally offers her services to other famiglias using different aliases.

Shira found herself wondering why most Mafioso their age was just crowding around Namimori. Even the kendo club captain was part of the Vongola Famiglia.

* * *

While students were rushing out of the boring prison called school, Class 1-A would soon be wrecked by a bomber. A certain prefect was not going to like this.

* * *

**And that's it for now. For the people who thought this was going to be really dark or something like that because of the first chapter, you're dead wrong. Now for the footnotes.**

**1. Tokugawa is the surname that the Japanese shoguns had during the Tokugawa period. The shoguns include Ieyasu, Iemitsu, and Tsunayoshi. Shiragiku means white chrysanthemum.**

**2. Kaa-san or Okaa-san means mom.**

**3. Ohayo or Ohayo gozaimasu means good morning.**

**And you probably should know this: Dame-Tsuna means No Good-Tsuna.**


	3. Chapter 2

**2-The End of the Peaceful Life**

* * *

Gokudera spat out his cigarette and stomped on it. Tsuna backed away.

"Gokudera-kun, I really need to be going home right now…" Tsuna reached a wall. Because of this guy, he just had to be stopped while trying to leave as fast as he could. That didn't work out too well. All other students left for home or clubs. They're lucky they don't have to be around when the fuse-happy person throws dynamite all over the third floor. Soundproofed, he might add. As for his sister, she was at the gardening club and Yamamoto was at baseball practice. Tsuna had absolutely no way to avoid the ensuing fight.

"I don't accept you as the future Vongola Decimo. You'll have to die here for the famiglia's sake." Gokudera got out the sticks of gunpowder and another cigarette.

"Eh? But we're inside the classroom, and—Hiiee!" Tsuna ran away from the potential explosions. _Eh? Wait a moment. If he knows about the Vongola then does that mean he is in the mafia? Why did they have to come now?_ He continued to run while Gokudera kept throwing dynamite. He looked back. "Gokudera-kun, could you please stop throwing such terroristic weapons?" he pleaded.

"Then would you stop running around so I can kill you already?"

"I take that as a no." _And I take it that Kyouya—I mean Hibari—will not like the aftermath. Speaking of Ky—no, Hibari—how long have I been trying to call him Hibari so he doesn't find a reason to attempt biting me to death? Oh, right: five minutes._ Tsuna ran through the hallways until he realized he had been running in circles. "Now then, should I try to fight back or should I wait for him to exhaust himself?" he wondered out loud.

"You should fight if you want to live."

"Eh? That voice can't be—" Tsuna looked around. His eyes stopped when they saw a baby in a suit wearing a fedora with an orange stripe. On the fedora was a green chameleon, and around his neck was a yellow pacifier. "Reborn? Why are you here?"

"Ciaossu, Dame-Tsuna! Fight with your dying will." Reborn held up a green gun that most certainly was not a toy.

"No, don't shoot that bullet again. I've embarrassed myself enough already when we were stuck at Varia Headquarters for three months." Tsuna shuddered at the memory. "Anyway, if it makes you satisfied, I'll fight back."

Gokudera came into view as he skidded around a corner, panting heavily. "He's tired already? I thought he'd be better. It must be all those cigarettes." Tsuna nodded to himself. Reborn had hidden out of sight so Gokudera would not know of his presence.

The human bomb got out a lot of dynamite and lit it. "DOUBLE BOMB!" Joy. It's been thrown at the poor, definitely not defenseless boy.

Tsuna shoved both hands into his pocket. When he pulled them out, black leather gloves had been fitted on his hands. "I really do hope the Vongola will be willing to pay for the damages." He took a pill, which he also got from his pockets. His eyes narrowed to half their size and turned orange. A flame of the same color lit itself on his forehead. A similar flame was spread across the flame acting as a shield. There was no explosion. From his hiding place in a fire extinguisher, Reborn smirked.

Gokudera had a look of pure shock on his face, but that was quickly replaced by amusement. "I didn't want to use this, but I will." He held up more dynamite than he could hold. "TRIPLE BO—" One stick fell down and the rest came tumbling after, all with their fuses still lit and slowly approaching the gunpowder. _Is this the end?_

Tsuna rushed ahead and from both gloves came a sea of flames, which didn't burn a thing. Instead, the fuses were being extinguished due to the pressure of the dying will flames. The orange flame died out and his eyes returned to normal. He sighed. "Shira is better at these kinds of things. Why couldn't she be the future boss?"

Reborn emerged from the fire extinguisher and kicked him, knocking him to the ground. "No complaining. You're the oldest and you are the only one with sky flames. You will become the boss, especially since everyone else is out of the picture."

"Eh? But what about Xanxus?"

The question was left unanswered, since Gokudera suddenly jumped in front of Tsuna, bowing his head so low that it touched the floor. "Gomenasai, Jyuudaime! I was ignorant to call you insufficient for the position of Vongola Decimo! My humblest apologies!" He started to bang his head on the floor.

"Well what do you know? I see yet another dog. Not to mention he is now pledging allegiance to the infamous Dame-Tsuna." Shira appeared at the stairs.

Gokudera stopped banging his head, turned to face her, and snarled. "What was that? How dare you insult Jyuudaime**(1)**! He is the best boss I could ever ask for. In fact, I'll become his right-hand man!" he proclaimed.

"Great job, Dame-Tsuna. You now have someone new in your famiglia," Rebron congratulated.

At the sound of his voice, Gokudera fainted. Shira looked at him. "Do you think the shock was too much? It makes me wonder how he'll deal with everything else such as a hyperactive boxer, a suicidal baseball player, and a mom who can be very scary when she's mad." She poked him to wake him up.

"You forgot the worst part: a very sadistic baby who is also a Spartan tutor," Tsuna reminded. Shira started dragging Gokudera down the stairs. "Wait, what are you doing?"

"What does it seem like? Anyway, come help me. This guy is as heavy as an elephant," she exaggerated as she decided to push him off the stairs and let gravity do all the work instead of dragging the supposed elephant.

Tsuna banged his head against the wall. "I live with people who care for human life as much as they would an ant's life. Not to mention she's my twin sister."

Shira came back up and patted him on the shoulder. "At least you're not related to Reborn by blood. That would be worse. Now, go down the stairs. I was serious when I said that guy was heavy." She walked down the stairs.

Tsuna sighed. Reborn hopped on his shoulder. "Mush!"

"Am I a sled dog now?" Tsuna asked the green screen door (Leon) blocking his view of the baby.

"Tsunayoshi, exactly why is this floor so damaged?" Tsuna stiffened. He slowly turned his head around to see Hibari Kyouya, the head of the Disciplinary Committee. He was well-known and feared throughout the entire school. The older raven-haired teen seemed eager to kill him with the pair of steel tonfas in his deadly hands.

"Kyouya, there is a very good explanation of this. You can't blame me if a bomber comes here so eager to take my life just because he doesn't see me as a suitable person to inherit something I'd be better off without," Tsuna tried to calm him down.

"No, it is your fault. You should have stayed in Tokyo so this school wouldn't face such extensive damage." Reborn sighed as Leon crawled back to the fedora. "Look at it. The Vongola Famiglia won't be able to fix this all in one night. Allow yourself to suffer minor injuries as compensation. It's what you deserve for not fighting back immediately."

"Reborn, Kyouya doesn't give people minor injuries. He takes them to the hospital with a few broken ribs and a concussion," Tsuna protested.

"And after that, he sent you to the hospital with nasty cuts because of all those thorns," Shira's voice added from downstairs.

Reborn smirked. "Oh, so there are people who can actually hurt you. I'll have to get him to join the famgilia."

"Absolutely no!"

* * *

"ITE!"

"You're pitiful, Dame-Tsuna, crying over a couple of minor injuries," said Reborn as Shira put disinfectant over those "minor" injuries.

"Two broken ribs, a black eye, and a couple of very deep cuts. I wouldn't exactly call these minor. Ite!" Tsuna winced.

"How dare that guy injure Jyuudaime this badly," growled Gokudera.

"I don't think the person who blew up the school should be saying this," said Shira.

When Gokudera woke up, he ran back to Tsuna and he found Tsuna beating beat up by Hibari. In order to "protect" him from further harm, he fought Hibari. Then one of his bombs had hit a gas pipe, resulting in gas explosion.

"I absolutely do not want to go to Kokuyo on Monday," complained Tsuna.

"Too bad!" Shira slapped a band aid on his arm, making him cry out in pain again.

"You!" Gokudera stood up, glaring at Shira, "Treat Jyuudaime with care! And then hurry up and go home!"

"What are you talking about? This is my home. How about you go home, Gokudera-kun," she retorted.

"This is Jyuudaime's home, not yours."

"They're twins, so it's her home too," Reborn explained nonchalantly.

"Wha-WHAT?"

"Tsu-kun, Shi-chan, Reborn-chan, Dinner is ready. Hayate, you can join us if you want," Nana announced as she ascended the stairs.

"Thank you, Maman. I see you got my postcard," Reborn noted.

"Eh? Reborn, you're the one who sent it? No wonder she burned it." The twins knew their mom hated the mafia. If a postcard came from any Mafioso, she probably would burn it after reading it.

"Itadakimasu**(2)**!" They ate enormous feast laid out on the table. Gokudera, being new to the Sawada meals, did not expect Lambo to steal his food while I-Pin chased after the problematic child. Nor did he expect for Nana to calm them both down just by holding a fork.

"You can come back anytime, Gokudera-kun!" Tsuna said as Gokudera prepared to go back to his apartment.

"I understand, Jyuudaime! I'll come back every day!" he said enthusiastically as he ran.

"No. That's not what I meant."

"Loyal isn't he. He'll make a great addition to your famiglia," Reborn commented.

"Reborn, for the last time, I'm not becoming the boss of the Vongola Famiglia!" he protested.

"That's what all my students say, but they all become one eventually. Even you."

* * *

**I'm very late in uploading this. Don't worry. We'll get caught up to the Halloween chapter in time for Halloween.**

**Translation notes:**

**1. Jyuudaime-Tenth**

**2. Itadakimasu-time to eat. It's customary in Japan to say this before you eat.**

**And if this ever gets confusing, please tell me.**

* * *

**Kimmy - I never would have thought an anon would be my first reviewer, but I don't mind. Hope you like the story so far!**

**kaito kitsune - I'm very sorry for pair Tsuna with Kyoko. I just don't want to make an OC for Tsuna to fall in love with. Plus, I'm not good with all the love stories, so there won't be much romance, if it helps. And I thing Orihime is worse than Kyoko. Don't kill me, Orihime fans! And also, if we can get to the future arc, I will reveal who I'm pairing Shira up with. And don't worry. It won't be Gokudera or Ryohei.**

**10th Squad 3rd Seat - You really need to sign up if you keep reviewing my fics. And I'll try to update whenever I can now.**

**SakuraHaruno9 ****- Thank you! **

**Lazybutt-Chan ****- Thanks for the advice. If this one gets hard to understand, make sure you tell me. I get the feeling It'll happen frequently.**

**starred ****- If Reborn was a godfather or a brotherly figure, I don't know how I'd advance the story. The only relatives Reborn will have are Uni, Luce, and Aria. That is all.**


	4. Chapter 3

**3-Hello, Weekend!**

* * *

**Sunday, Oct. 10**

Tsuna lied in his bed, doing nothing even though it was such a nice day. Shira had left with Lambo and I-Pin to go shopping, his mom was chatting with their neighbors, and Reborn and Gokudera were in his room.

"Tsuna, get up," ordered Reborn.

"No."

"I'll break your glasses if you don't."

"You wouldn't dare," said Tsuna as he turned to face Reborn, only for the baby to grab his glasses. He tried to grab them back, but he failed, as anyone would when they're up against Reborn.

Reborn hopped down the bed and ran out the door. "Catch me if you can!" he called out.

"Reborn, give them back!" Tsuna ran after him. He bumped into a wall. "I swear I'm going to curse that family my entire life." He felt his way around the wall until he was safely out the door.

"Jyuudaime, should I help?"

"Thank you, Gokudera-kun. For now, could you catch up to Reborn?" he asked.

Gokudera saluted, though Tsuna could barely see it. "I understand, Jyuudaime!" He eagerly ran out the door, looking for Reborn.

"Now, why in the world did no one think to make spares?" Tsuna wondered to himself. He slowly walked, his hand always on the wall until he stumble down the stairs. "Itete. I forgot those were there. How can I not know my way around my own house like the back of my hand?" He got back up. According to his memory, the door should be straight in front of him. He opened the door and tried to find Reborn and Gokudera while trying not to bump into anything.

"Shira, aren't we going to buy grapes?" Lambo asked.

"No, we're buying grapevine seeds so we don't have to keep buying grapes. And I'll even let you pick them yourself," Shira replied.

"Yay! I'm not sharing with I-Pin!" he exclaimed.

I-Pin said a few words in Chinese. Shira patted her head. "Don't worry. I'll get you something too. Now what should I get." She walked down the aisle, looking for something. She stopped when she saw glasses. "That reminds me. Tsuna needs to have spares in case his glasses break, and I-Pin is near-sighted." After a while, she picked the frames she thought would fit them both. "And I also need to buy birthday presents. What would be good?"

Gokudera ignored the traffic lights as he chased after Reborn. He almost got hit by a car twice. "Gokudera-kun!" He turned around and saw Tsuna running to him. "I've finally caught up to you," he panted.

"Jyuudaime, shouldn't you be going slower since your eyes are bad?" Gokudera asked.

"Oh, that. Well," he looked up, displaying orange eyes, "if I'm using these eyes, there shouldn't be much trouble, but it's still a bit confusing. Anyway, let's look for Reborn. I can't keep this up for much longer."

"Roger! We go that way!"

As they ran, they passed by Shira and the two kids. "Wasn't that Dame-Tsuna?" asked Lambo.

"I wonder what he's up to. Oh well." Shira shrugged it off. "We need to get home. And also," she hung her head, "we have to get ready to go to Kokuyo. Of all the schools that are nearby, why did it have to be that one?"

Tsuna and Gokudera finally caught up to Reborn at Namimori Park. By that time, Tsuna was clinging to Gokudera since his HDWM ran out. "Reborn, hand over the glasses now," said Tsuna.

"Do you think I will feel pity for someone who can barely see? No, that is inaccurate. Without your glasses, you can't see solids, not even your own hand. Tell me, what will you do if you lose these glasses?" Reborn asked.

"That is…"

"Well, that's why I'm here. Be ready to lose your glasses on a daily basis!" Reborn had that mischievous glint in his eyes. Tsuna paled even though he couldn't see that glint.

"I don't really know what you're talking about, but give Jyuudaime's glasses back!" Gokudera shouted.

"Alright." Reborn jumped up on Tsuna's shoulder and put the glasses back on his face. Tsuna rejoiced at getting his normal sight back. Reborn jumped back down. "I'm hungry. Get me something to eat."

"What? But it's not long until dinner!" Tsuna complained.

"I don't care. I want a crepe," he insisted.

Tsuna turned to Gokudera. "I didn't bring my wallet. Could you pay?"

"I'll be right back, Jyuudaime!" Gokudera ran off to the nearest crepe stand.

"But, why a crepe all of a sudden?" Tsuna asked. "Wouldn't you usually want a cup of coffee?"

'I felt like it," he replied.

"That's not a very informative answer," he said.

By the time they got home, it was already past nine. Dinner was already finished. The reason was because Gokudera, due to being new to the area, got lost. And because of his pride, he didn't ask for directions. Tsuna and Reborn ended up having to wait two hours for Gokudera.

"How hard is it to ask for directions?" Tsuna sighed when he got to his room. He plopped on the bed, not yet changed into his pajamas.

"How hard is it to go to Kokuyo tomorrow?" Reborn questioned.

Tsuna rolled himself in the sheets and then curled up like a caterpillar turning into a cocoon. "But Kokuyo is really fearsome. Ah, I want to skip school. Why did Gokudera have to blow up the whole school?" He rolled around again until he reached the end of the bed and fell to the floor.

Revorn smirked. "Hmm? Well if you're that adamant about it, then perhaps I'll tutor you all day if you skip school."

Tsuna sat up with some difficulty. "I'll go to Kokuyo! Just don't tutor me!"

* * *

**Short. This chapter is short. Oh well. Next chapter, we get to see Mukuro! Yay!...I think.**


	5. Chapter 4

**4-The Demon of Kokuyo**

* * *

**Monday, Oct. 11**

The two twins reluctantly woke up, got dressed, ate breakfast, and went to school. Reborn rode on Tsuna's head. "Jyuudaime!" came the familiar call of Gokudera. From the other direction came a whooshing sound. Tsuna ducked Yamamoto's swing. "Can we not do that so early in the morning? Kokuyo is my mortal enemy."

"Even though it's just three students," Shira pointed out.

"How can it be that bad? It's only three students, right?" Yamamoto shrugged.

"Yamamoto, haven't you heard the rumors? Apparently, there's a demon there that's on par with Kyouya." Tsuna trembled at the thought of the two facing off. Not to mention he personally knew both of them.

"You're pitiful as always, Tsuna. I'm sure you could even beat demons with your dying will." Reborn already had his gun out.

"Reborn, I'd rather you not pull the trigger."

"Speaking off which, you baseball idiot!" Gokudera yelled at Yamamoto when he caught up. "Don't think I didn't see that. Who are you to swing a bat at Jyuudaime?"

Yamamoto laughed. "I'm only doing what's normal. And it's not like it'll cause any serious harm. Maybe a few broken bones, but that's all."

"That's the last thing I want to hear from you," Tsuna complained.

"Hai, hai. And while you two boys were chatting, we're already here," Shira announced.

The four stood in the imposing shadow of Kokuyo Middle School. There was a sign that directed the Namimori students to their temporary classrooms. "Let's see, we're sharing a room with Class 1-6," Gokudera said as he read the sign. There was also a map so the directionally-challenged (namely Gokudera) wouldn't get lost. Meanwhile, Reborn ran off somewhere.

* * *

It was after school. "See, that wasn't too bad, now was it, Tsuna?" Yamamoto asked.

"But we're bound to run into those guys eventually," he sighed.

"Don't worry, Jyuudaime! I'll be sure to blow up anybody who bothers you!" Gokudera already had his dynamite out.

"That kind of thinking is bad, Gokudera-kun! Don't just blow everything up!" Tsuna protested.

Just then, a group of students ran past them. "Hurry up! There's a fight between Kokuyo and Namimori!" one of them yelled.

"A fight? Well besides Gokudera-kun, the only other people who would do something like that would be Kyouya and Onii-san," Tsuna surmised.

"I'm quite curious as to whom either of the two are fighting against," Shira commented. "Let's go see!"

So on his sister's whim, they checked out the fight. "Excuse me, coming through," Tsuna said as he pushed his way through the crowd. On one side were Hibari and the rest of the Disciplinary Committee. As for the other side, Tsuna nearly toppled over.

"Rokudo-kun?" Shira exclaimed.

"Look, Shira. This is what your whims get us into! Haven't you ever heard of 'Curiousity killed the cat'?"

"Even Joshima-kun and Kakimoto-kun are here!" she whined.

"Kufufu. What are you doing?" The boy with mismatched eyes and a pineapple like hairstyle asked Hibari.

"You assaulted a Namimori student. I'll bite you to death, herbivore," Hibari proclaimed.

"He was assaulting my Nagi. Anybody would does such a thing deserves death," he argued.

"Um, Mukuro-nii-san?" a purple-haired girl timidly called out.

Mukuro's right eye, which was red, seemed to spin as it stopped on the kanji for one. The ground shook as lava suddenly erupted from below.

"Kyaah!" several students screamed.

"There it is. The demon of Kokuyo's world of hell!" others commented.

Amidst the confusion, Mukuro had his trident out while Hibari charged at him with his tonfas, eyes gleaming.

Tsuna suddenly felt a hand pat his shoulder. It was Shira. "I thank you for your sacrifice." She nodded to herself.

"Eh?" He was suddenly kicked in the crossfire. Both weapons stopped millimeters from his face. "Shira!" he exclaimed, turning at her.

"Sorry. I slipped," she pretended to apologize.

Tsuna tiptoed away, hoping he would not be recognized.

"Sawada…Tsunayoshi?" It was a tone of mild surprise.

"Tsunayoshi!" Irritation.

Tsuna stopped and turned around. "I'm sorry for interrupting. I'll just be going now." A trident shot out in front of him and the cool touch of the metal tonfa was on the back of his neck.

"Kufufu. To think we would be reunited in a place such as this. It's been a long time, hasn't it, Tsunayoshi-san and Shirayuki?" Mukuro asked. However, his current tone did not sound to be touched by the sudden reunion.

Tsuna chuckled nervously. "Yeah, it's been a long time. I see you have been doing just fine, but you really need to stop saying Shirayuki. She's going to be mad."

"Oya? She can be mad now? You also seem to have grown weaker. Are you trembling? The old you wouldn't have an emotion called fear," Mukuro commented.

"You're right. But, when you are afraid, it means you are able to truly overcome all weaknesses. Unlike Shira over there." He smiled sadly, looking over at the direction of his sister, who was preventing Gokudera and the others from coming to his side. He waved.

"Tsunayoshi, move out of the way." That voice belonged to Hibari. Tsuna had forgotten of the tonfa on his neck.

"I understand. I'll be going now." Tsuna once again turned to leave while the two resumed their fight. "Shira…" he growled.

"Oh, you came back safely," she noticed.

Gokudera jumped on him. "Jyuudaime, you're okay, right? They didn't harm you or anything?"

"I'm completely fine, Gokudera-kun," he reassured.

Yamamoto laughed. "See? I told you Tsuna would be fine."

"That's not the problem here. Shira, you actually kicked me towards a really dangerous situation," Tsuna scolded.

"You wouldn't be harmed at all. What kind of old friend would he be if he stabbed you somewhere?" she reasoned.

"That's right, Jyuudaime! In the mafia Rokudo Mukuro is very dangerous. He's killed most of his own famiglia before. I don't know why the Vongola Alliance decided to leave him alone, even though he's a criminal," remarked Gokudera.

"Mukuro-sama would never be a criminal, byon!" protested a blonde boy with a scar running from one cheek to another. He was part of Mukuro's group.

"Oh, well if it isn't Joshima Ken?" she commented.

"What was that, you fail experiment?"

"Who's a failed experiment? If anybody, then it's you, whose brain turned to mush!" she protested.

Tsuna put a hand to his mouth, his shoulders visibly shaking. Gokudera noticed this. "What's wrong, Jyuudaime?"

Tsuna let out a small laugh. "Sorry. It's just that this is the first time I've ever heard them argue, but they sound like it has been going on since forever."

"What was that?" the two bickering teenagers asked. They glared at each other.

"Um…Ken, who are they?" Nagi asked.

Ken quit the staring contest. "This is Sawada Tsunayoshi and Tokugawa Shirayuki. And you two, this is Fumie Nagi," he grumpily introduced.

"Nice to meet you," all three greeted.

"But, how many times do I have to tell you? It's Shiragiku. Not Shirayuki!" the girl protested.

"Why not just use that as your name. It fits you very well," Ken retorted.

"Wait a moment, Jyuudaime! Do you remember what I just told you? They are accomplices of Rokudo Mukuro," Gokudera objected.

"It's okay. You don't have to worry about Tsuna," said Yamamoto.

"Huh? What are you saying? As Jyuudaime's right-hand man. I will never allow any danger to come to him!"

"Gokudera-kun!" Tsuna yelled.

"Jyuudaime?" Gokudera had heard him use such a harsh tone before. Was the pressure of being around criminals getting to him?

"I already know all that. Because I too murdered the Estraneo Famiglia alongside them. I too have had my hands stained with blood. I…am not worthy to be the boss as someone as clean as you," Tsuna said, his face downcast and his bangs overshadowing his eyes.

"Huh? Murdering? That's not like Jyuudaime. Is this some kind of joke?" Gokudera asked, unable to believe the facts.

"It's not a joke. I'm serious."

Gokudera ran away.

"Was that okay, Tsuna?"

"Of course it was. He has to learn about it sooner or later."

"You're crying."

"Shut up."

* * *

**Does anyone think I make Gokudera and Tsuna hate each other way too much? Well, at least Gokudera won't call Tsuna a shrimp this time. Any way, there are no translation notes for this chapter.**


	6. Chapter 5

**5-Birthdays**

* * *

**Wednesday, Oct. 13**

It was Reborn's birthday and the day before the twin's birthday. Actually, it was just a half hour away. Everyone but Gokudera, Hibari, and the students from Kokuyo partied at Tsuna's house. Since that day, Gokudera didn't appear at school anymore. The party was to celebrate three birthdays and cheer Tsuna up, for Tsuna believed it was his fault Gokudera wouldn't come.

And of course, since it was an odd birthday for Reborn, they just had to make it a Vongola-style party. They would hand out presents while Reborn would score them. The person with the lowest score would get kill, and the one with the highest score would be awarded.

Yamamoto was the one who supplied them with all the sushi they were eating since his dad runs a sushi bar. He got 80 points.

Kyoko got him a winter outfit: a brown coat with fur lining, brown gloves, brown boots, and a brown fedora. She got 85 points.

Ryohei gave him some boxing gloves in hopes of inspiring him to become a doctor. He still has no clue that Master Pao Pao is actually Reborn. 75 points.

Hana gave him a toy gun. 86 points.

Nana gave him his own bed to sleep in instead of having to use the hammock. 95 points.

Lambo gave him some kind of stick with strung wound around it. 1 point.

I-Pin gave him some Gyouza Buns. 78 points. It wasn't up to par with Maman's cooking.

Shira gave him a Jack-o-lantern hat that doubled as a light. 87 points.

And Tsuna, since he was stuck with Reborn the whole time, could not give Reborn a present. His problems were solved when Shira gave him a box from under the table. Reborn opened it. A signed popped out, reading, "Die!" 10 points for having the courage to say that.

Tsuna was not happy. "Shira."

The twin put two fingers up to the corners of her mouth and smiled. "It was too funny," she stated. Tsuna dragged her out of the room to have a chat with her. They came back ten minutes later.

Since Nana had the highest score of 95, she was awarded with a free diamond ring.

Now, since Lambo had the lowest score, her was about to get killed by Reborn. Reborn shot him. Surprisingly, the bullet got tangled into his afro.

"What a miracle," Shira commented.

That's a nice toy," Kyoko remarked.

"Thank you," replied Reborn.

They waited for midnight to come.

**Thursday, Oct. 14**

They all pulled out the noisemakers. "Happy Birthday, Tsuna and Shira!"

Nana went back downstairs to get the cake. "I'm very glad this is an even birthday and not an odd one," Tsuna said.

"Pity. I wanted to see if a miracle happened again," Shira sighed.

"Well, how about we give you your presents now?" Yamamoto suggested. "Let's see…" He walked over to the cooler he brought with him. He handed Tsuna a sushi dish with tuna as the fish used and Shira a jar of dried chrysanthemums used to make chrysanthemum tea.

"I'll guess I'll go downstairs to make tea." Shira sat up with her jar in hand.

"Bye," said Tsuna.

"Good luck on getting away cannibalism," she said as she left.

"I'm human, not a tuna!" he protested.

Kyoko giggled. She then reached into her bag. "Here, Tsuna-kun. A jacket. It'll be getting cold." She handed him an orange jacket with the number 27 embroidered on the chest with red thread.

"T-thank you, Kyoko-chan," he thanked as he tried it on. "It fits perfectly!"

And Ryohei, like with Reborn, gave him a pair of boxing gloves. "Become a great boxer to the extreme, Sawada." He gave him a thumbs up sign.

"Um, Onii-san, I'm not becoming a boxer."

"Don't say that. You'll change your mind to the extreme."

"I really doubt that."

The door opened. "I'm back," she said glumly.

"What's wrong?" Tsuna asked.

"Kaa-san's making me eat the chocolate cake," she replied.

Tsuna was silent for a moment. "Do you really hate chocolate that much? You don't even give anybody Valentine chocolates," he said at last.

"But if I give them chocolate on Valentine's Day, then they'll give me chocolate on White Day!" she whined. She brought in the tea.

"But, Shira-chan, chocolates not all that bad. Here, a matching jacket!" Kyoko handed her a blue jacket with a chrysanthemum embroidered on the chest.

"Thanks." She folded it and put it to the side.

"Here to the extreme!" Ryohei handed her a box. She opened it. Inside were some brass knuckles.

"Ryohei, it's not like I'll be picking any fights in the future, you know."

"Now for my present." Hana gave Tsuna some textbooks and for Shira, some romance novels.

"Eh?" Tsuna questioned.

"You need to stop being called Dame-Tsuna and you," she pointed at Shira, "need to learn to understand what love is."

"But I don't need to be smart!"

"And why do I have to learn about love?"

"I could always blackmail you," she threatened.

"Hai," they both replied. They were worried of the many secrets Hana could reveal to the school.

Lambo gave them the Lambo stick that Reborn rejected. They rejected it too. I-Pin also gave them some extra Gyouza buns. Nana finally came with two cakes, one vanilla and the other chocolate, both having the respective twins' names and fourteen candles.

The two both blew out the candles on their cakes.

Shira stared glumly at the chocolate cake in front of her. "Do I have to—"

"Yes," Nana replied without waiting for her to finish asking.

She and Tsuna cut them into ten equal pieces and shared them amongst everybody. Shira ate a little piece of the cake. "This isn't chocolate, it's coffee! Kaa-san, you said you bought a chocolate and a vanilla cake, not a coffee and vanilla cake!"

"Did I really say that?" Nana feigned innocence.

The rest of the party went by as they finished their cake and talked about their thoughts on Kokuyo and gossip. Finally, it was time for Reborn to give out presents. Reborn cleared his throat. It seems like he planned to give a speech. "I thank you for coming to celebrate our birthdays. I'm sure Tsuna and Shira will become one of the world's leaders. And now, for my present." He kicked a hole in the wall separating Tsuna's room from Lambo's and I-pin's. Four people fell out of it.

"AH!" It was Ken, Mukuro, their friend Chikusa, and Nagi.

"How did he know we were there, byon?" Ken asked.

"Did you forget what happened nine years ago? It's predictable what we'd do," said Chikusa. He wore glasses and a beanie and had a barcode under his left eye. He didn't seem to have any emotions.

"And they also have that Arcobaleno with them," Mukuro added.

"Happy birthday," Nagi congratulated.

"Wait, Nagi! Why are you congratulating them? They are our enemies! We shouldn't be all friendly with them!" Ken yelled.

"But, Ken, weren't you the one who remembered it has their birthday and made us come over here?" she asked.

Ken blushed. "I did not!" he protested.

"I don't believe it. We only mentioned our birtday once. How did you remember it?" Tsuna asked.

"Ken marked it on his calendar," Chikusa answered.

Ken blushed. "You better remember this. I expect to be repaid for this!" With that, he ran out the door.

Mukuro chuckled. "It seems we must be going as well." He glared at Tsuna. "We will be back in class later today. Just remember, if you lay one hand on Nagi, I won't forgive you," he threatened. He, Chikusa, and Nagi went after Ken.

Shira went in her room. She came back with two envelopes, one addressed to her, the other to her brother. "They left this here," she stated.

Tsuna sighed. "Those three are a handful. Oh well. Happy birthday, Shira."

"You too, Tsuna." They exchanged presents. Tsuna received another pair of glasses while he gave Shira a cheap picture frame he bought a few weeks before.

They opened the envelopes when they were back in their rooms. Inside was a single photograph.

* * *

**Yay! We're done with posting for the day! Tomorrow is Halloween so expect two chapters. The photo's contents will be revealed in the next chapter along with a guest! And Gokudera has a legitimate reason for now appearing in this chapter beside the fact that he hates Tsuna. And now a word from the real Tsuna.**

**Tsuna: Eh? I never heard about this in the script!**

**Alice: What script? There is no script. Hurry up and say the announcement already.**

**Tsuna: Um, eto, uh...**

**Alice: Get on with it already!**

**Tsuna: Hai! Alice-san will not be updating her other fic because...um...**

**Alice: There's too much to read. I can't read everything in one night.**

**Tsuna: Yeah. That. So I'll be going now! *exits***


	7. Chapter 6

**6-Are We Supposed to Know These People?**

* * *

**Sunday, Oct. 31**

The days passed. Namimori was eventually fixed and they returned to that school, leaving Kokuyo behind. Gokudera still wasn't coming back to school. Meanwhile, Reborn was tutoring Tsuna in academics, athletic ability, and sight. And finally, it was Halloween. Nana went shopping with the kids, Reborn included, to buy costumes and candy. Shira and Tsuna were stuck watching the house. They were watching TV.

"So, what did you do with the photo Mukuro gave us?" Tsuna suddenly asked.

"I want to burn it, but I can't. I put it under the bed," she replied.

"Do you really hate it that much?" he asked.

"Yes. Do you see my face?"

Tsuna took out the picture from his pocket. "Oh right. Well, you've changed a lot since that day."

"I still can't smile," she complained.

"Well, at least you can get angry now. That's not much progress considering nine years have gone by, but it's still progress," he stated. He looked at the picture again. Shira had her fingers up on the corners of her mouth, making a fake smile. He had his hand over his face, containing his laughter at this gesture. Ken and a boy with light blue hair were at each others' necks. Chikusa stood emotionless. Mukuro was having a squabble with a dark-haired guy who was next to a guy with light, long hair. A comical gesture came from another man with spiky black hair as he jumped onto the other man. A hooded baby floated around.

"Don't look at it! It's a disgrace from Vongola. A disgrace, I say!" she whined.

"Speaking of which, isn't Lussuria the reason why you hate Valentine's Day?" Tsuna asked.

"Do you remember what he gave me for White Day?" she shuddered. "Horrible."

"Yeah, but back then, the only emotion you had was apathy. You didn't have the feeling of disgust and such," Tsuna pointed out.

"The mere memory of it disgusts me!" she protested.

The doorbell rang. "I'll go get it," Tsuna said as he got up. He walked to the door and opened it. "Hello, what can we do for—What is this!"

"What's wrong?" Shira walked over to the doorway. "What is this!" As expected of twins. They have the same reaction even if one doesn't know how to smile. Out there was practically an army of men in suits. A blonde man stood out like a sore thumb wearing casual clothing. "Tsuna, do you know these guys?"

"I only know the people you know, unless you're meeting someone in secret," he replied.

"Point taken. So, are you sure you men have the right house?" she asked.

"_È questa la casa del Vongola Decimo_?" they asked.

"What language is that?" Shira asked.

"Have you forgotten Italian already?"

The casual man cleared his throat. "Is this the house of the Vongola Decimo?" he asked in Japanese with a faint accent.

"And who are you to ask?" Tsuna asked.

"Ah, sorry. I'm Dino Chiavarone, the boss of the Chiavarone Family," he introduced.

"I thought mafia men were old men who did nothing but kill people," Shira commented.

"Oi," Tsuna called out. He got the feeling his sister just insulted him.

"What is it?" She played innocent.

"Forget it."

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but can you answer our question now?" Dino asked.

Tsuna sighed. "Yes, this is the home of the future and unwilling Vongola Decimo," he answered.

"Now that you know, you can leave now," his sister stated.

"Okay. You guys can go now!" he dismissed the men.

"Understood." They went back in a limousine and drove away without Dino.

"Eh? Shouldn't you leave with them?" Shira asked.

"I'm staying here. I'd like to know what kind of person the next Vongola boss is," he stated.

"He's a no-good idiot. His nickname at school is Dame-Tsuna. If you take off his glasses, he'll have a hard time seeing. He has no academic or athletic abilities," Shira informed.

"I'd still like to stay here for a while." Dino walked into the house, taking off his shoes before he went in.

The twins faced each other. "Should we hide the forks, or should we kick him out? I know Kaa-san is okay with Reborn, but what about another Mafioso?" Shira asked.

"We just have to pray he doesn't have a dangerous weapon so she won't expect him to be part of the mafia," he replied. There was a crash. The two turned around to see the man sprawled on the floor. "Are you okay?"

"I'm completely fine. I think I stepped over something and lost my balance. That's it," Dino replied.

There was nothing on the floor save for the chairs he knocked over.

"He just tripped over nothing, didn't he?"

"Scratch what I said. Let's pray he doesn't break anything valuable." Tsuna watched as the man got up. "I'll show you to your seat. Just don't move around too much!" He rushed over.

When they were successfully at the table without much incident, Shira served tea.

"So, why are you here? I'm already fed up with Moretti pretending that he's been killed by me," Tsuna said. Last week, the man in question suddenly showed up at their house in the morning, playing the role of a burglar dead due to the killer instincts reawakened in Tsuna. "Seriously, I don't want to kill anybody again."

"To be specific, you burned them to death," Shira pointed out.

"Shut up!"

"And you are?" Dino asked.

"His twin, Tokugawa Shiragiku. I'm using our mother's maiden name. Don't mind me. I'm not becoming Decimo," she replied.

"Eh?"

"Forget it. So, Chiavarone-kun—"

"You can call me Dino," he interrupted.

"Then, Dino-kun, why is someone as clumsy as you the Chiavarone boss?" Shira asked.

"What are you talking about? I'm not clumsy at all," he denied as his cup tipped over 45 degrees when he was getting it, spilling part of it's contents. That's really convincing, Dino.

Shira went to clean up the mess that was made.

"Oh right, I have something to show you." Dino took out a turtle from the inside pocket of his coat. "His name is Enzo."

"Is he dangerous?" Tsuna asked.

"Of course not. He wouldn't hurt a fly," he replied. Tsuna didn't feel too sure about that, the way the turtle glared at him like he was dinner.

Shira finished wiping the spilt tea and sat back down. "So, now that you've finished what you came to do, how about you join your men at wherever you're staying," she grumbled.

"It's okay if I stay for a little while, right?" he asked. Enzo slipped out of his arms. While trying to get him, he knocked the cups of tea and a flower vase used as a centerpiece. Their contents spilled on the turtle. It grew.

"Why did he grow?" asked Tsuna.

"He grows when he absorbs water," Dino replied. Enzo was almost human-size.

"I'm glad he didn't absorb anymore water. Who knows how big he can get," Tsuna fretted.

Dino tried catching Enzo again. However, as they grew nearer and nearer to the sink, Dino's clumsiness acted up again. His elbow accidentally brushed up on the sink knob, letting Enzo become even bigger. The wall broke as he grew and some water pipes were broken, flooding the house and making the turtle grow even faster.

"Tsuna, why did you let him freely roam around the house," Shira asked as she stared at the hole in the wall. "Kaa-san won't like this at all."

"Yeah. Even I'm starting to regret my decision of letting him in. But really, shouldn't we be more worried about Enzo? I mean, he busted a hole in both the wall and ceiling, and I'm pretty sure your room was right over the kitchen," Tsuna reminded.

"Ah!" She stood up. "Tsuna, is it okay if we have turtle soup for dinner?" Her eyes showed murderous intent.

Tsuna shied away. "No. Absolutely no," he flat out refused.

"Cut off his limbs?"

"No."

"Make him into a raisin?"

"Shira, you are not to harm a guest or his pets."

"But my room is trashed," she whined.

"Here's a flip side. We get to eat out today."

"Only if we don't die before that happens."

Tsuna laughed. "That's impossible…I think." He started to doubt his words.

Just then, there was a click as the door opened.

* * *

**Should we count this as a cliffhanger? Anyway, anyone who's read Tsuna's Thoughts on Fanfiction should know about my hate for Enzo and Lussuria. It seems that has rubbed off on Shira a bit. Is this good or bad?**

**No translation notes.**

* * *

**starred: Now that you mention it, he does act very cute. Thank you for pointing that out. **


	8. Chapter 7

**7-Trick or Treat**

"Tsu-kun, Shi-chan, do you have anything to say for yourselves?" Nana asked, a terrifying yet innocent looking smile on her face. Enzo was struggling to be free from her grip as her other hand held a gleaming knife. Around her was the debris of the ceiling and wall and a soaked floor. Under the sink, plumber's tape was used to stop the leaking pipes.

"Dino's fault!" They both pointed the blonde man who was tied up in order to prevent anymore danger. And as if on cue, a part of the ceiling broke off and hit him.

"Wasn't it your fault for letting him in the house in the first place?" She grew more and more horrifying as the conversation went on, her knife ever coming millimeters to the place where Enzo's head had been before he tucked it inside his shell.

"Er…" They could say nothing.

"Dame-Tsuna is in trouble!" Lambo sang. I-Pin probably said the same thing in Chinese.

"What a pitiable position for my student to be in," Reborn noted.

"Who's the guy who invited his former student to come here in the first place?" A piece of information they were told only ten minutes ago.

"Enough! As punishment, you three are to fix this up and skip dinner tonight," Nana concluded.

"What?"

"No way!"

"But I'm the guest!"

"A true mafia leader can survive any punishment that's given to them, even the punishment meant for their own men," Reborn lectured.

_"_But Dino's the only mafia leader in this room!_" _protested the twins.

"Oh? So he's in the mafia you say?" Nana had overheard them. "So you mean to tell me that you allowed a Mafioso to destroy my house?" Please note. Nana is very fearsome when she has a kitchen utensil in her hands, and in this case, she is holding a knife.

As a survival instinct, the twins shifted the blame on someone else. "He forced himself in here!"

"I told him to go, but he didn't listen!"

"We never asked him to come here! We didn't even know him until today!"

"I've heard enough! You two are grounded for a month!"

* * *

So while Lambo the sheep, I-Pin the horse, Reborn the Grim Reaper, and Nana the now kind adult supervisor went out for trick or treating, Tsuna, Shira, and Dino were to fix the wall and the ceiling.

"Is it really okay to let Dino-kun help? You've seen what happened right?" Shira asked her brother.

"Well, if worse comes to worse…"

"'If worse comes to worse…'"

"…We'll just have to use your ability," he finished.

Shira poised herself to hit him with a wooden board. "You have the same ability. Do it yourself. Do you want to cripple me?"

"It's better for it to be sooner so you can get used to it," he replied. She hit him. "Ite! Easy on the ribs! They haven't healed yet!"

"Does it look like I care?"

"No, but maybe we should care about Dino more," Tsuna stated as he pointed at the man. He was covered in plaster from head to toe.

"What happened to you?" she asked.

"I don't know myself. I'll just be taking a bath now." He started to leave.

"Wait. Leave Enzo here," Tsuna ordered. He did not want to take a risk with the man's lack of motor skills and unawareness of said skills. Dino did just that. Tsuna put Enzo in the cage they used when the feral chihuahua wandered into their lawn.

"And now we have to divide up the work between the two of us. I'll take the ceiling," she offered.

"Fine. Go ahead and fix your room." She went up the stairs. Tsuna sighed. "But then again, her room is very visible now. I never noticed she had so many flowers." Indeed, there were many flowers lined up on her windowsill. There was also a sprut growing on her nightstand. He noticed the picture frame he gave her. Inside it was the very pictured she had told him was under the bed. "Liar."

"Hey, keep out of a girl's private room, you pervert!" She stuck out her tongue and nailed the floorboards on.

"Who would even want to see your room?" he retorted.

The rest of the night was spent from plastering the wall to giving candy to the children and running back to the wall. After Dino finished taking a shower and put on their dad's old clothes, he mopped the floor clumsily, but not harmfully, thank goodness.

After an hour, maybe more, the door bell rang. Tsuna fetched the bowl of candy and opened the door. "Trick-or-Treat!" three familiar kids exclaimed.

"Why are you three here? You know that if you come home, you could have the leftovers," he pointed out.

"But what if there are no leftovers? All the candy Maman bought would be wasted on the grubby hands of the other children," Reborn said.

"I see. So are you like this at Christmas too. You take all the presents, saying that they will be wasted in other people's hands?"

"Of course. You're lucky I didn't steal the chocolates on Valentine's and White Day. And also, since you won't give us any treats, we'll have to give you a trick." Reborn signaled to Lambo. The cow boy took a grenade out of his afro, pulled out the pin, and threw it at Tsuna. Tsuna swatted it back at him. It, predictably, caught Lambo in the explosion.

"To-le-rate..." He kept tears out of his eyes as he threw five more.

"Lambo, stop it already!" Again Tsuna swatted them away, although he forgot what happened when you make Lambo cry.

So, the boy cried and pulled out a purple bazooka taller than him and definitely too large for his afro to contain. He fired it at him, causing pink smoke to appear and with it, an older version of Lambo. To be specific, it was ten years older. "Yare, yare. It seems my child self has caused trouble for you again, young Vongola."

"Ah, don't worry too much about it. Just be glad he didn't cause trouble for I-Pin. We don't want the noodles to get soggy again," said Tsuna. The future I-Pin was attending a Japanese college and worked part-time at a ramen shop.

"Oh, you're going trick-or treating? How nostalgic." Lambo said when he noticed Reborn's and I-Pin's costume. "Eh? Reborn is already here!" He stood there, flinching when Reborn turned to look at him.

"Hai, hai. That's enough of your traumatic experience with Reborn. Five minutes are about to be up. Good bye." Tsuna waved good bye as pink smoke appeared yet again. The normal Lambo was there, hold an entire garbage bag full of candy. "What in the—?"

"Gyahaha. Look, Dame-Tsuna! Future Shira gave me all this candy!" he exclaimed.

"I see. I guess that means we're all done with Halloween for the year. Come inside and eat the dinner we can't eat."

"Yay! I'm not sharing with I-Pin!" He dragged his bag to the dining room. Tsuna gave I-Pin the leftover candy. Nana came in with the sushi takeout.

* * *

Some people ate dinner while other people were working. There's a saying. No pain, no gain. However, they have pain, but no gain, just loss. Well, at least everything a fine. Even if they weren't pros at it, it was still a good job considering the little amount of experience and the clumsiness of others. They returned to their rooms.

* * *

**Omake**

"I-Pin is so slow!" Lambo commented as he jumped up to ring the doorbell. Reborn was right behind him while I-Pin and Nana were walking leisurely. The door opened just as I-Pin got there.

"Trick-or-Treat!" all three exclaimed as they opened their bags.

A vampire was at the door. "What cute costumes. Here's some candy." The man gave out an equal amount of candy to the children.

They left for another house. After visiting ten houses and Take-sushi, they somehow managed to get all the way to Kokuyo, where they met with a teen wearing a werewolf costume. It was Ken.

"Why are you here, byon?" he asked.

"Trick-or-Treating," Reborn answered.

"Say, ojii-san**(1)**, aren't you a bit old?" Lambo asked.

"Who is old? I'm only 14, byon!" he protested.

"That's ten years older than Lambo-san!" the kid pointed out.

"Shut up, byon! I'm only doing this to get something to eat!" he said.

"Lambo, do not associate with the poor people who will lose all their teeth one day," Reborn advised. He pointed out the almost invisible cavities on Ken's teeth.

Lambo laughed. "Poor! You aren't rich like Lambo-san!"

"Does a kid like you even have any money, byon?" Ken retorted.

One just had to wonder why the kindhearted Nana wasn't scolding Lambo for the ensuing stream of insults. It's because she knows that deep down, the teen was smiling at having someone to talk to. She giggled. I-Pin looked up at her. "It's nothing," the mother replied to the unsaid words.

* * *

**And now we're done with the Halloween chapter! *pulls out a noisemaker* **

**Translation notes:**

**1. Ojii-san - old man (kind of insulting or Lambo to say that to Ken, don't you think?)**


	9. Chapter 8

**8-A Tiring and Somewhat Stressful Day, Courtesy of Reborn**

**Wednesday, Nov. 5**

Shira ran out the door. "Tsuna, hurry up or we'll be late!" she exclaimed. "Do you want Hibari-kun to kill you? Or maybe you want Gokudera-kun to throw dynamite at you?" Two days ago, the boy just appeared in his seat like nothing had happened. Well, he was back to his former self, showing hostility to Tsuna.

"Can't I get a break around here? I'm already stuck sleeping at 1 and waking up four hours later. Can't I sleep in for once?" he whined.

"Go to sleep in class. It's not like Dame-Tsuna will get any dumber if he sleeps in class," she stated.

"I'm still maintaining my status as the third-worst student," he retorted. It was a miracle he wasn't the worst student. That title belonged to the guy who got single-digit scores on every test. Even Dame-Tsuna couldn't do that if he tried.

A girl on a bicycle stopped when they neared. She wordlessly handed Tsuna a can of soda before pedaling away.

"That was awkward to say the least. Tsuna, do you think that could have been your secret admirer?" Shira asked.

"Forget about that. We're actually going to be late if we stay and chat." Tsuna ran to the school.

In the shadows of a telephone pole, a certain person bit his or her nail.

* * *

Tsuna found that he couldn't concentrate in class due to his drowsiness. He was half-asleep when the teachers passed out the day's homework. Finally, the bell rang, signaling it was time for lunch. However, Tsuna was already asleep by then.

Yamamoto and Shira watched as Gokudera left the classroom without a word. "Shira, are you sure it's okay like this?" Yamamoto asked.

Shira shrugged. "It's what Tsuna wants, but does he really wish for that from the bottom of his heart?"

"What's this about Tsuna-kun?" Kyoko asked as she ate from her bento.

"It's nothing much. He just seems tired lately," Shira replied.

"Wow! Kyoko, your lunch looks so good!" Yamamoto remarked, attracting her attention to the food.

"I made it myself. Do you want to try it?" She offered the lunch box to him.

"Itadakimasu! His chopsticks grabbed a piece of fried shrimp. He put it in his mouth with a look of joy on his face. "Yummy! Kyoko, you should be a chef when you grow up! I can't even make good sushi!" he laughed.

"I guess you won't be taking over the family business!" Shira commented. She noticed a woman place a bento next to her brother. When Shira blinked, the woman had disappeared. "Huh?"

"That was…"

"A friend of yours, Hana?" Shira asked.

"No. That was the Poison Scorpion Bianchi. As always, your brother attracts some dangerous people," Hana informed while keeping her voice down. She didn't need Kyoko to overhear at all. She wrote a couple things in her notebook.

"Say, wouldn't that mean she gave Tsuna a poisoned lunch?" Shira pointed out.

The two girls glanced back at the bento, which, now that they looked closely, gave off faint purple fumes. "Well, I hope your brother can fend for himself. I don't want to be called a bento thief." The matter was left like that

* * *

_Tsuna found himself in a study. "I am sleeping in class, aren't I?"_

_"Good afternoon, Decimo," greeted a blonde sitting at his desk. He had orange eyes and features similar to Tsuna's. He wore a pinstripe shirt with a black suit. Covering him was a black mantle. On his hands were gloves with the Roman numeral for 1 on them. The man was Giotto Vongola, the founder and first boss of the Vongola Famiglia. "You must have been very tired to appear here in the middle of the day."_

_Tsuna sighed. He took off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Yeah. Can I sleep here until I wake up in reality?"_

_"I don't mind. You have been getting too little sleep lately," the older man answered._

_"Thank you. I swear, Reborn gets worse as the day goes by. At first, it would just be a light jog around town. After that, he started stealing my glasses. And then he turns Namimori Park into a minefield and makes me walk across without stepping on a landmine. I'm not some kind of superhero who can do all those things without getting a good night's sleep," Tsuna complained as he drifted off to sleep. It's not like sleeping inside a dream would help him recover physically, but it helps mentally._

* * *

"Oi, Tsuna, class is starting," Shira whispered as she poked her brother with the pencil. The sharp end. However, Tsuna did not stir, despite the pain. Shira gave up and slouched over her desk. She didn't want to pay much attention to the history lesson at all. What was the point of it anyway? She looked behind her to see a wall made from an open notebook. She guessed Yamamoto was sleeping. Hana and Kyoko were paying close attention. Gokudera ignored the teacher as a column of smoke came from his cigarette.

The teacher turned around as he addressed the class about the Meiji Revolution. He yelled when he found out only a few students were actually paying attention. "Gokudera, stop smoking now! Yamamoto, don't think you can fool me. Wake up! Tokugawa, stop stabbing your brother! Sawada, wake up! And the group of students over in the corner, put away those PSPs!" He was completely ignored.

"Takamine-sensei, it's useless. You got stuck with the most rebellious first year class," Hana informed. "Dame-Tsuna's test scores lower the class average by five percent. Gokudera Hayato is a chain smoker. Yamamoto Takeshi always sleeps in class. Tokugawa Shira is well known for freezing a seat. That orner has nine of the ten worst students of this class."

The teacher was speechless at Hana for having known all that information and being their friends despite knowing that. He put down his textbook and went out the door. "Self study," was all he said before he went to submit his resignation papers to the chairman. Many students rejoiced. However, the door opened again.

Students were expecting either the teacher or Hibari Kyouya to walk in. However, all they saw was an infant walking to the blackboard. "Nice to meet you. I'm Reboyama-sensei!" he introduced as his petite hands grabbed the chalk and wrote his name.

A student spoke up, seeing the oddness of a baby being in school. "Are you lost? Where's your mom?" A piece of chalk hit his forehead with enough force to reduce the chalk into powder upon impact and knock the student unconscious. And so began the teaching session from hell.

Tsuna and Yamamoto were very lucky to have chosen to sleep throughout the class. Students who ignored the teacher or answered incorrectly weren't as lucky. That day, several students walked into the nurse's office, either for a headache, an excuse to get away from class, or a bruise forming on their headache. Almost the entire class was there, resulting in the beautiful nurse resigning from her job. She only took the job because she didn't what to be unemployed.

The only people left in the class at the end were Hana, Kyoko, Shira, Tsuna,Yamamoto, and an unnamed, insignificant, and really foolish student. Said student is the one with the worst scores in the entire school.

* * *

**I'm trying to make a regular updating schedule. Once a week. And now, we're back to single chapter updates. And as a heads up, the next chapter will be released on Bianchi's birthday. And also, should I make the chapter longer? As in about 3k words? Just asking.**


	10. Chapter 9

**9-White (1) Is Always Associated With Poison**

Tsuna woke up. He looked at the time. It was three. There wasn't a student in the classroom. "Did I sleep the whole school day?"

"Yes. You wouldn't wake up." He turned to see Reborn. "If you'll fall asleep with only that much training, then I guess I'll have to train you harder." And train you to wake up when being hit with ten pieces of chalk, he added mentally.

"Reborn, that makes no sense." Of course, his objection was unheard.

Reborn gave him a bento **(2)**. "Here, since you missed lunch."

Tsuna took it. He wouldn't believe Reborn would just give it to him. "I found it next to you."

"I see." Tsuna didn't have to worry then. If Reborn didn't give it to him, then there's no way it would be poisoned.

"By the way, my bugs tell me that Poison Scorpion Bianchi came here."

"And? What does that have to do with me?" He opened the lid. From inside, purple fumes were released.

"Of course, she made that bento," Reborn replied.

Tsuna threw it across the wall. "Why would you let me eat poisoned food?"

"It seems Bianchi wants me back in the assassination business. A good way to do that is to eliminate the cause for my being here. In other words, you."

"What?"

"Well, this will serve as good training. Find her before she gets rid of you."

"You can't expect me to do that. She's a pro!" he protested.

"No worries. You are my student after all." Reborn jumped up. "Of course, since it would be no fun otherwise, if you remove your glasses, you are disqualified."

"I understand." There goes the easy way out. Tsuna hung his head as he walked out of the classroom, thinking about how he could find Bianchi.

He absentmindedly walked to the school garden. "Tsuna, if you keep going that way, you step on the flowers," Shira warned.

He looked up to see Shira watering a patch of hydrangea with a hose. "Sorry. But, it's getting closer to winter. They'll wilt soon."

"That doesn't mean you can just step on them like that. Flowers are living beings too, you know. Even after they wilt, after the ice melts, they'll grow again. So don't ruin a flower's life because you think it'll stay dead like humans, so don't burn them like did to other humans" she lectured, pointing the hose at him.

"Shira!" She stopped. "Great. Now I'm all drenched and I've been reminded of some horrible memories." He shook the water out of his hair.

"You were still half-asleep. I just did you a favor and woke you up," she said smugly.

"Well, you're not welcome." He left for home this time to change his clothes.

Shira shrugged. "But, really, people just absentmindedly walk straight here after school way too often. Maybe I should put up a sign or a fence for that. But, if I put such a thing on school grounds, Hibari-kun is going to chew me out. How fearsome."

* * *

It was already past dinner time, and Tsuna still had no clues. He thought about letting himself become a sitting duck, but it was risky, even if it was just poison. He filled in all the right answers on his homework as he thought about it. Reborn smirked as he watched this. Because Tsuna had been asleep when it was assigned, he wasn't informed that the problems were at the high school level.

"And then there's the deal with Gokudera. GAH! I CAN"T THINK!" he shouted as he wrote x=88.59. To be specific, he couldn't concentrate to be Dame-Tsuna, but, after years of playing dumb, the genius persona of his had to be released sometime.

Shia stepped into the room. "Tsuna, would you mind being a bit more qui—" She stopped in mid-speech when she saw his paper. "Reborn, this can't be…"

"I'm waiting to see what happens," he replied.

"What are you two talking about?" Tsuna asked.

"Nothing! I'm just wondering when the issue with Bianchi will be solved."

"I have no ideas how to go about finding her. She's a pro." He stopped. "Wait a minute. How do you know about that? I never told you anything about Bianchi."

"How? I saw her put a bento on your desk," she replied.

"What? Tell me that sooner!"

"Does it really make that big of a difference?" She yawned. "Anyway, I'm going back to sleep, so you should be quiet for the time being." She left.

* * *

**Monday, Nov. 8**

The weekend passed by. Tsuna had poison food delivered to him during every meal. His family wasn't helping at all. Nana considered it rude to turn down the food. Lambo almost ate it. Gyouza buns were delivered, and I-Pin almost ate those. Then Lambo used the Ten-Year-Bazooka and summoned his past self. When the delivery came, Adult Lambo needed to go to the hospital due to a very severe case of food poisoning thrown at his face. Of course, at that time, the five minutes were up. But anyway, it was still a hectic weekend.

And now it was home-ec class. Tsuna was in a very bad mood. In math class, when the teacher collected their homework, he accused Tsuna of cheating. He didn't cheat. He was as Dame as ever. It's not like he let it be known that he was actually a genius maintaining the status of the third worse student. Well anyway, they were making cookies. Chocolate chip cookies. Shira was instantly shying away from the chocolate.

"Oi, Shira. If you keep acting like that, you'll get a bad grade. Chocolate won't harm you," Tsuna reassured.

"You weren't the one being chased around by a chocolate covered squadron. You aren't allowed to talk," she snapped.

"Oh? But if I remember correctly, you didn't seem like you were scared," he pointed out.

"Like I said before, the mere memory of it disgusts me," she replied.

"Well, you can handle making cookie dough. If you don't, Dame-Tsuna would just spill everything, _on accident_." He emphasized the last two words. Technically, he wasn't lying. He would spill everything on purpose and make it look as if it was an accident.

"Then what are you doing now?" She snatched away the bowl as she mixed it, though still staying as far away as she could from the trauma-inducing chocolate.

* * *

Everyone's cookies were finished. They were allowed to let other people try them. "Tsuna-kun, can you try these?" Kyoko asked. She held out the tray of cookies.

"Thanks, Kyoko-chan." Then Tsuna noticed someone switching the cookies. Now, there were purple fumes and worms coming out from the poisoned cookie. He hesitated in grabbing them.

"What's wrong? Aren't you going to eat?" she urged. Kyoko didn't notice the switch.

"I will." He hesitantly grabbed a cookie, closed his eyes and took a bit out of it. "Huh?" He turned to see Shira holding a cookie at arm's length away from her. The cookie he himself was holding was a regular-looking cookie he and Shira baked.

"Why are you looking at me? I hate chocolate," she said.

"No. I'm just amazed you have such good aim," he replied.

The bell rung, signaling the time for lunch. A shadow jumped out the window. Tsuna ran out the door. "Kyoko-chan, the cookies were very good!"

When he was completely out of the sight of anybody, he opened a window and jumped out of it. He saw the figure run to the garden. "Hey, stop!" he yelled. _Like anyone's going to actually do that. Well, at least there's a dead end there._

He cornered Bianchi. However, you never know what a cornered mouse—or scorpion in this case—will do. She threw a poisoned cake. Tsuna just barely dodged it. Because of such a closed call, part of the glasses flame melted. It fell, barely hanging on to the right ear. One eye was fully covered while the other was completely exposed.

"My glasses!" he exclaimed.

"You can't see without them. Why did Reborn have to tutor someone as pitiful as you?" she asked.

"It's not like I wanted him to. But with certain circumstances, I was forced to have him tutor me," he protested.

"I don't care!" Again, she threw her poison cooking. A cookie sheet fell and acted as a shield.

Tsuna sighed. "What is your excuse this time, Shira?"

The girl was leaning against the windowsill in the hallway. "How many times do I have to say it? I hate chocolate."

"Hai, hai. Make all the excuses you want."

"Left," she said.

Tsuna moved in that direction, out of the way of incoming desert. "Thank you."

"I'd rather you die, though. Hurry up and swallow your pills. I don't want my garden getting poisoned. Especially the chrysanthemums."

"Figures. You care about your flowers more than your brother," Tsuna grumbled as he swallowed a pill. There was an orange flame on his forehead.

"Wh-what?" Bianchi stuttered. "How can you use that so quickly?"

"Well, since my twin sister will chew me out if I get her garden damaged and Kyouya will bite me to death if Namimori property gets destroyed, I'm afraid I have to stop you," he replied, not really answering her question.

Tsuna made his move. He got behind Bianchi and grabbed her wrist, making her let go of the plate she was holding. "Now, won't you surrender quietly? I don't want to harm a woman, but I will if I have to."

Bianchi chuckled. "A woman won't surrender so easily when it's for love." Her free hand got another plate and threw it at him.

Tsuna dodged it, but he also let go. "Love? Don't tell me you're in love with Reborn?"

"Yes. And that is why I will kill you, who chains him to this accursed peaceful life!"

"A woman in love is a scary thing, not that I will ever know. My positive emotions are gone with the wind," Shira stated.

"Love will overcome any barriers, whether it is language, race, sickness, or even love itself," Bianchi said.

"However, love is just an emotion. It cannot do anything," she protests.

"You're wrong. After all, it saved me in the midst of the darkness of the mafia."

Shira turned to her brother. "Tsuna, she's talking about complicated things I can't understand."

He sighed. "See, this is why Hana's making you read all those romance novels. You could at least try to understand."

"By the way, is this really a good time to be talking? Bianchi still wants your head," she pointed out, changing his focus to the other woman.

"I know I already asked this, but could you please surrender peacefully?" he asked.

"Never!" She prepared two dishes of spaghetti.

"Stop it, Bianchi!" Reborn hopped from somewhere onto Tsuna's shoulder.

"Reborn./?/!" The name was called out in various tones by various people.

"Ciaossu!" He took a sip of his espresso.

Bianchi had a lovesick look on her face. "Oh, Reborn. I've finally seen you again. Now, let us come back to the assassination business. Such a life is the only place where you shine brightly." She held her arms out to embrace the baby.

"Stop it, Bianchi. I already know full well how you hate killing. And, I shine the brightest when I'm tutoring," Reborn smirked.

"Reborn…"

"Tsuna, you should get going soon. Lunch is almost over," he warned.

Tsuna looked at a nearby clock. "You're right! I'd better get going. Oi, Shira you hurry up too!" He ran back to the classroom, his sister following after him.

"Reborn, won't you come back?" Bianchi asked.

"Sorry, Bianchi, but this is my duty. However, you are always welcome to live with us," Reborn offered without the consent of the residents of the house.

Bianchi's eyes sparkled. She picked up Reborn and kissed him. "I think I'll take you up on that offer. Besides, it'll much easier for Sawada Tsunayoshi to die of an _accident_ while I'm around." The definition of an accident is slowly turning to something mean something that is done on purpose but covered up so it would seem to not be on purpose. Bianchi still wouldn't give up. And it's amazing how her target uses the same definition for accident.

* * *

**Happy Birthday, Bianchi! Now I have more people to add to the list of people needing some dialogue. But oh well. Only one more (or maybe two more) to get through until we o on to the Varia. Might I add that the next chapter with deal with Gokudera. Guess who confronts him! And no, it will not be Tsuna.**

**Translation notes:**

**1. Bianchi's name means white in Italian. Hence white goes well with poison.**

**2. Bento - lunch box**


	11. Chapter 10

**10-Tumbling Emotions**

"Oi, Gokudera!" Yamamoto called out to the boy after school was over. He was on his way to the club room, but he saw Gokudera and decided to talk to him, despite the twins telling him to not bother.

"What is it, you baseball idiot?" he asked.

"You really should go back to Tsuna's side," he replied.

"I will not be by the side of a murderer!" he protested.

"Don't talk like you know anything! You don't know the half of what those twins have gone through!" Yamamoto yelled, a really rare occasion.

"And you do?" Gokudera countered.

"No," he replied.

"Then you have no right to tell me about it when you don't know!"

"Yeah, that's right! I only happened to overhear their past! I was never told by them directly! But at least I didn't run away when I found out that Tsuna was a murderer. But what about you? You, someone who vowed to become Tsuna's right-hand man, just gave up after some trivial fact? You should be ashamed!"

"Then tell me this. Would you ever help a criminal? Would you ever serve a criminal out of your own free will?" Gokudera asked.

"Why do you label them as a criminal so quickly? Tsuna and Shira are not criminals. They are pitiful! Have you ever noticed that Shira cannot smile? Have you ever noticed the dullness in Tsuna's eyes? They may not be innocent, but they aren't guilty either! Don't always judge things in black and white. There's more to it in this world!"

Gokudera clenched his fist. He didn't like how that baseball idiot was always yelling at him. He didn't like how he would always take Tsuna's side. He didn't like how he himself was lying through his teeth! "Shut up, ypu baseball freak! Why should I care about Jyuudaime!" His eyes widened as he realized he had said that nickname. The nickname that revealed his loyalty.

Yamamoto laughed. "See? You still want to be by Tsuna's side. It's not good to lie to yourself, Gokudera!" He ran off to the baseball diamond.

Gokudera stood there, still in shock. Why did he use that nickname then and now? Why couldn't he just admit that Tsuna was a criminal? Why did he accept the truth but not say it? Why was he such an idiot?

He looked at the sky. Since he was a child, that would always be key words for mafia famiglias. He never understood it before. But, now that he actually took the time to look, he understood. The sky accepts everything. That was how he perceived it now. Indeed, when he was not acting so useless, there were times when it seemed like Tsuna would fit that description. Like how a boss should be.

Gokudera wanted to slammed his head against something. He already convinced himself. It had nothing to do with him. Sawada Tsunayoshi, a boy who was not what he seemed. A murderer. A man who kills fellow human beings. A man who belonged in the mafia. But Tsuna did not. He assisted a criminal in wiping out an entire famiglia. He was not a murderer in the eyes of the mafia. He was a criminal, not the future boss of the Vongola. Why did he have to remind himself of that a second time?

He watched the sky. There were no clouds, no sign of the much wanted storm and rain. True, in the rain, his bombs would be rendered useless, such as on that day. But it would help to disguise his real emotions. He let out a dry laugh. It seemed all he was doing was lying.

He lit a cigarette and put it in his mouth. Where do his loyalties lie? He was the right hand man of Vongola Decimo. But did he accept Sawada Tsunayoshi as Vongola Decimo? Unless his memory was failing him, he certainly did after the boy saved his life. Why would a criminal save his life? Simple. He was not a criminal. That's all there was too it. Surprisingly, Gokudera did not need to keep convincing him of that fact. He had known it all along.

He walked back to his temporary home. It was temporary since he had been kicked out of his apartment a few days ago due to not being able to pay the rent. Now, he stayed in an empty warehouse. Well, it wasn't so empty now that he stocked it with dynamite and all that. In fact, he had grown quite akin to it like it was his own home. For money, he would get a part-time job as a waiter in a café.

He opened the heavy doors. He found his eyes twitching at the sight before him. All his dynamite was at the back. A futon **(1)** was laid out on the wall opposite from the only window. A stack of clothes was folded and sorted in a corner. However, what really irked him was the person sleeping in his futon. "You idiot woman!"

The woman woke up with a jolt. "Hahi?" She had dark brown hair tied in a ponytail and the same colored eyes. She was wearing a Midori Middle School uniform. Her name was Miura Haru.

"Why are you sleeping in my (temporary) room!" he asked irritably.

"Well, Gokudera-san was late and made me wait for so long that Haru fell asleep!" she replied.

"Who told you to wait for me? Why would you even come in the first place, you idiot woman!" he yelled.

"Your wounds still haven't recovered yet! Is it wrong for me to be worried?"

"Urk!"

Let's rewind a bit, shall we?

* * *

**Tuesday, Oct. 12**

"Jyuudaime is a murderer? Well, it isn't a rare occurrence in the mafia, but to think he assisted that criminal." He lay in his bed in his quaint, unsanitary apartment room. The rent was cheap and that was all that mattered. And so, it was on this day that the young man called Gokudera Hayato found himself skipping school, mainly because of the events from yesterday. He sees a group of international criminals going to school like semi-ordinary people, and Jyuu—no, Sawada—tells him that they have known each other for a long time and even assisted them in mass murdering more than 800 people. That was a record, even among pros.

Gokudera got dressed. He needed a breath of fresh air and a smoke. Then he'd go down to work. And then he'd go back and cook dinner. He lit a cigarette and opened a window. He rested his elbows on the windowsill as he leaned out.

Before he came to Namimori, he did a bit of research on Tsuna via the Vongola Database. He was born and Tokyo and lived there until first grade, when he transferred to Namimori. He was lousy at both sports and academics, earning him the nickname of Dame-Tsuna. Gokudera stopped. It had nothing to do with him now. Why was he going over the facts?

He looked at the clock. School had been over for an hour, meaning that his shift was almost starting. He walked out to work.

"Oh, Hayato! You're a bit early today! Did something happen?" His boss asked.

"Kind of." He walked to the locker rooms to change into his work uniform. It was a red shirt with a black tie and pants. The café's logo was on the breast pocket, where he kept a memo book and a pen. He took the orders of a group of girls who just came in. "Welcome to Sunny Cafe. What would you like to order?"

The girls absentmindedly listed off items on the menu as he wrote them down, oblivious to their dreamy stares. "Will that be all?"

"Yes."

Gokudera ripped of the sheet of paper and gave it to the boss, who was also the cook. He whistled. "Looks like you brought in another bunch of girls. Which one is your type?" Although he was already in his mid-thirties, he still talked about such this. He's was already married too, to boot.

"I'm not interested," he replied.

"What a pity. Oh, I've heard you're friends with Tokugawa Shira. My nephew envies you."

"I don't see what's so enviable about that girl."

"You're missing out on you youth. Any guy would be jealous of the friends of one of the school's idols." The boss chuckled. "I am ashamed to say that I was one of those people back when I was young."

"I'll go take some more orders. I don't need to listen to your life story. I'm not getting paid for that." Gokudera drifted away from the counter. He continued to work, not letting any other thoughts enter his mind. Finally they closed for the day. Gokudera was cleaning up.

"Hayato, you can leave now," said his boss from behind the counter.

"No, I'm fine," he replied, not turning to look.

"No, I'm serious. Leave now."

Gokudera looked at him, for it was rare for his boss to be serious. He was shocked to see his boss's arms raised up with a gun pointing at his head. A burglar, he realized. "Hands up! Don't move!"

Gokudera reached for his dynamite but then remembered his boss was being held hostage. He reluctantly did as he was told. The burglar inched towards the cash register without moving his eyes away from Gokudera or his gun away from the boss's head. He stuffed all the money in a bag and finally released the boss. Gokudera made his move. Out of fear, the burglar fired a few shots, most of them missing. One grazed him on the cheek.

Gokudera took out a small stick of dynamite and light it with his lighter. "Die!" He threw it at the thief. Luckily, the amount of gunpowder packed into it was small, but that didn't mean it didn't hurt. He fell unconscious. The boss dialed 110. "Hello, is this the police? A burglar tried to rob my shop. Yes, I'm fine. He tripped and hit his head on the counter. I think he's out. Yes, please come quickly." He hung up.

"Why didn't you tell them about me?" Gokudera asked.

"It would be a shame for the police to arrest you when you just protected this shop. Now, go back to your apartment. I hope to see you again tomorrow." He shoved him out of the door. "Hurry before the police come."

"Thank you, boss." Gokudera ran away. But it was when he ran away was when the real danger started.

* * *

**Raise your hand if you guessed Yamamoto. I'm wondering how many hands went up from my few readers. Oh well. You can't post a story and expect it to be an instant success.** **Anyway, here's a toast to successfully reaching the tenth chapter, excluding the prologue. Anyway, who wants to read about Gokudera committing suicide? I hope no hands are being raised (unlless we have a Gokudera hater among us) so for those who don't want to see such a scene, you can skip the next chapter when it comes out. Okay, it's not that dramatic, but he still commits suicide. Don't worry. He'll live. Now, someone please tell me why I'm revealing this all to you when you can just wait a week for the next chapter.**

**Anyway, here are the translation notes.**

**1. futon-a floor mattress, I guess. Look it up!**


	12. Chapter 11

**11-That Rainy Day**

* * *

Gokudera ran as fast as he could as he took shelter from the sudden downpour. "The weather was supposed to be clear all day. This is why I hate the weather forecast," he grumbled. He was aware of the killing intent behind him. He turned around. "Who's there? Come out!"

"It seems I have been found out." The assailant was a red-haired man dressed in the traditional mafia suit. "Now, I hope you'll surrender quietly."

"Like there's an idiot who will do as you say." Inwardly, Gokudera was seething. If it was raining, then his dynamite wouldn't work. The fuse would be put out due to the moisture. He had little knowledge of close-combat. He was in a bad position.

The man seemed to take notice of this. "You shouldn't bluff. I've done my research. You use dynamite and nothing else. Will it even work in this rain, idjit?" he asked as he took out a gun.

Gokudera clicked his tongue. He ran away, thinking of how to retaliate in this situation. Meanwhile, the man chased after him, shooting away. Gokudera turned, only to realize he had reached a dead end. It was too bad he never looked at any maps of Namimori.

The man cocked the gun at him. "Now, tell me everything you know about Sawada Tsunayoshi," he ordered.

"Sawada? Why? I've already left him," he replied.

"But surely you know of something."

Gokudera decided. "Fine. I'll tell you something. If you kill him, you'll have Rokudo Mukuro at your neck."

The man laughed. "Idjit! We already know that! Do you think we, the allies of the Estraneo Famiglia, wouldn't know of such a thing?"

Gokudera was confused. Estraneo Famiglia? What did that have to do with anything?

The man noticed his confused expression. "Oh, I know! You really don't know anything. Your boss doesn't entrust you with anything. You're better off dead."

"Let me ask one thing. Who are you?" Gokudera asked as he stared down the barrel.

"I am Zakuro of the Gesso Famiglia."

"Thanks. I'll be sure to write that on your tombstone," Gokudera said. If he survived that is. Suddenly, an idea hit him. But, the problem is, would he survive? _No, I was prepared to die from the start when I met Sawada. I shouldn't worry about that._

"You still have the guts to say such a thing? As I thought, I'll have to kill you, idjit." He fired his gun.

Gokudera moved to the side and ran straight towards him. As soon as he was only inches from him, he lit a stick of dynamite. As long as it was this close, he wouldn't have to worry about it being dampened.

"You-you would sacrifice yourself?"

"I would do anything to be of help to Jyuudaime!" Those words just automatically flowed from his mouth. What was he thinking, announcing his loyalty to the very person he detested just hours ago as his last words? The fire reached the end of the fuse, the gunpowder inside it exploding. Gokudera closed his eyes and waited for his death to come. He never noticed the burst of red flames coming from Zakuro.

* * *

"Boo. Why didn't you kill him, Zakuro?"

"Idjit. It would be waste to kill someone with as much spunk as him."

"Hmph. You still failed." The two figures walked away, leaving the boy unattended.

He would die if he was not given any treatment. His help appeared in the form of an idiot woman walking in the rain, carrying an umbrella. "Hahi!"

* * *

**?**

Gokudera woke up in an unfamiliar room. He tried to get up, only to be met with pain in his abdomen. "That's right. I was fighting and then…" Memories of the explosion replayed in his mind. He certainly remembered having the two of them being caught up in the explosion. "I'm alive?" So, if he was alive, then that Zakuro guy would have to be alive as well.

He took in his surroundings. There was a lot of room. There was only one window, which was on the wall opposite of him. He was on a futon. Next to him was a roll of bandages and some bloodied ones that hadn't been disposed of yet. He drifted off to sleep again.

* * *

_"To think, you'd actually do something as crazy as suicide. You aren't Asari's reincarnation, are you? No! You're my reincarnation so don't go throwing your life away!" scolded a pink-haired, red-eyed, man with a flame-like tattoo on the right half of his face. He was similar to Gokudera, even having a cigarette in his mouth. He wore a white dress shirt with a dark green tie and black trousers._

_"Who are you?" Gokudera yelled. This unfamiliar person who appeared so much like him just scolded him from out of the blue._

_"Now, why in the world is it that we're always getting the same reaction. First it was Primo's, then it was everyone else. Though, this should be expected, considering we're from different eras."_

_"Answer my question!"_

_"You are so impatient. I'll answer already. I am G.," he introduced. _

_"A codename?"_

_"A nickname," he corrected. "Anyway, this is our first meeting, but not our last, unless you decide to do something as crazy as suicide again. Listen up!"_

_Gokudera resisted the urge to salute at his tone. _

_"The only one who is allowed to commit suicide—I still think it's crazy, though—is Asari's reincarnation, not you! Personally, I hate the idea of it. What kind of boss allows his subordinate to throw his life away? Okay, put Asari aside for a moment. At least Decimo is working on fixing his suicidal tendencies." The man rambled away._

_Gokudera listened carefully. He still had no idea who this person was or why he was appearing in his dream. He didn't even know this 'Asari' person he was talking about. One possible conclusion he came up with was that he (Gokudera) was finally going mad under the stress of recent events. Yes, that's it. This guy was probably someone he had caught a glance of in some kind of article. Yes, that was it. It all made sense now. He waited for the dream to be over, unaware of the sad pair of orange eyes looking at him.  
_

* * *

He woke up, this time with the face of a woman peering at him. "Hahi!" she exclaimed. "You're up! You've been sleeping for two weeks. I was worried you wouldn't get up."

Was he dreaming again? No, that abdominal pain proved it. Then why was an unfamiliar woman here? "Who are you?" That question might as well be the most common question known to the entire world!

"Oh. I'm Miura Haru. You can call me Haru, desu! So, who are you?"

"I have no reason to tell you" he replied.

"Haru was the one who found you wounded at a dead end. Haru dragged you over here so Papa wouldn't find out and treated your wounds. You should thank me!" she proclaimed.

"You're a complete stranger. For all I know you could be friends with the guy who tried to kill me," he retorted.

"Haru would never be friends with a murderer!" she protested.

"At least we share the same sentiments." He let out a dry laugh, remembering what he had said before attempting suicide. He got up.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"School. If it's this early then I probably won't be late," he replied.

"But today is Sunday!" she pointed out.

Gokudera stopped. "What's the date?"

**Sunday, Oct. 31**

"I've been asleep for that long? But then, I'll have to pay the rent tomorrow! I haven't been working enough days to pay it all off. The landlord isn't that lenient with the rent either!" He had a lot of problems to deal with right now, most of them financially. He tried to run out, but that only ended up in opening his wounds.

"You should rest! Don't worry! Haru will take care of you!" The girl rolled up her sleeves.

Gokudera was already worried for his safety, well-being, and sanity. With many complaints, he was dragged back to the futon to be treated by a complete amateur. When Haru finally let him walk around, he went to his apartment, where his stuff was thrown at him and he was kicked out, not having paid the rent.

Then he went to Sunny Café. His boss was delighted to see him again after a long disappearance. He even gave the guy a bonus.

But that still didn't make up for the fact that he had no home, so he went back to the warehouse to live, where from that day on, Haru would treat him, to his chagrin.

**Monday, Nov. 8**

And that was how the bomber was stuck with her. It almost seemed like the situation when he was stuck with his sister. Speaking of which, he never did send her a birthday present, not that he could stand the sight of her.

But now, he was reminded of Tsuna. Maybe he should go apologize to him tomorrow.

* * *

Back at his home, the twins' eyes twitched. "Why is Bianchi staying here and why is she baking a cake?"

Reborn sipped a cup of espresso that was not brewed by the woman in question. "I didn't tell you? I invited her. After all, Bianchi is my fourth lover and today is her birthday, so of course she would want to celebrate it with the man she's in love with."

Nana smiled. "I can understand! If Iemitsu was here, I'd want to celebrate my birthday with him." After that, things turned grim. "But please remember that is the kitchen is damaged again, Bianchi will be cooking all your meals when it is repaired." Looks like Nana has no qualms about an assassin staying there as long as she's staying for her love.

Shira gulped. "I think I should go do my homework now. Unlike you, Tsuna, who turned in the math homework with all the right answers, I am not a genius." She ran upstairs before any misfortune could befall upon her, namely the horrible food.

Tsuna paled. "You mean that was the cause for this morning's fuss?"

"You just now realized it, Dame-Tsuna? You really are Dame," his tutor remarked.

* * *

**So does that count as a suicide attempt or just plain idiocy? And as for Zakuro, I didn't want to add an OC whose only role would have been to attempt to kill Gokudera, so now we get the Real Funeral Wreaths. Now I ave to figure out how I'm going to add the others.**

**Anyway, I have a poll for you guys regarding the order in which you want the Ring battles to be in. It'll be up on my profile!**


	13. Chapter 12

**12-Gokudera**

**Tuesday, Nov. 9**

Gokudera took a deep breath. It was currently 3:30 in the morning. He was standing outside the Sawada household. He didn't know what led him to this place at this ungodly hour. He didn't even know why he was still in Namimori. He pushed the doorbell and waited. And waited. And waited. And waited. He pushed it again. Ten seconds passed. One minute. Then two. Giving up, he started walking back to his temporary room. Then the door opened.

"Oh, I haven't seen you in a long time, Hayato-kun." Sawada Nana was at the door. "What brings you here so early?"

Gokudera cleared his throat. "I want to talk to Jyuudaime!" He wants to talk to him so much that he's reverted back to using that nickname.

"Oh, Tsu-kun is still asleep, but you can come in any way!" Nana invited.

"Thank you very much!" Gokudera bowed before entering the house. He sat down on a couch in his living room. Nana served him tea before sitting across from him.

"So, when will Jyuudaime be up?" he asked.

"Hm. Shi-chan is usually up at four and Tsu-kun will be up at five-thirty," she replied.

"What? Why is that woman up before Jyuudaime!" Gokudera outraged.

"That's a habit of hers, but she lost many old habits and gained new habits. Same with Tsu-kun," Nana tearfully said.

"Um, did anything happen while I was gone?" Gokudera asked unsure about how to approach the woman who was nearly crying.

"Of course. Tsu-kun's and Shi-chan's birthday was on October 14," Nana replied, back to her cheery self.

"EH! I missed Jyuudaime's birthday?" Gokudera exclaimed. "I'm a failure as his right hand man!"

"It's okay. It happens every one and a while. But," Nana's tone suddenly turned harsh, "if that man Dino ever decides to wreck my house again, I will not spare him."

Gokudera realized for the first time how fearsome Sawada Nana was. As the wife of the leader of CEDEF and the mother of the future Vongola Decimo, it's no wonder why many assassins never dared to approach the Sawada Residence. But then he realized what she said. "Bucking Horse Dino also came here?"

"Yes, and he made a mess out of my kitchen. It was a hard time to fix it." Her tone grew darker and darker as she went on into details. "But I'm sure Bianchi won't destroy anything while she lives here," she smiled. It was a hard to grasp her mood swings.

"A-ANEKI IS HERE!" Gokudera nearly fainted.

"You two are related? That makes settling here a lot easier, doesn't it?"

Gokudera couldn't say it to the smiling mother. He couldn't say that the other reason he came here was to escape his sister and her poisonous cooking. He gulped and put on a forced smile. "Yeah, it makes things easier." _I have to endure this for Jyuudaime's sake!_

"Kaa-san, did you turn up the volume on the TV?" Shira asked as she came down the stairs. She saw her mom talking to someone. It took her a few minutes to register exactly who it was. "Eh? Wait a moment! Why in the world are you here?"

"Shi-chan, it's not nice to yell at a guest," Nana reprimanded.

"Oh, Hayato, you're here?" There she was! The pink-haired, green-eyed woman with the poisonous cooking, AKA his sister! Gokudera fainted, clutching his stomach. "Hayato?"

"What do you know? He fainted," Shira commented, not the least bit concerned.

"Well, he'll wake up sometime." Like mother, like daughter. "Bianchi, you take care of your brother while I cook breakfast!"

"Okay," Bianchi replied, watching over her brother, not aware of the fact that it was her who made him faint.

The doorbell rang. "Shi-chan, could you get that?" Nana asked as she turned on the stove and got out the ingredients.

"Okay." Shira opened the door, looking at whoever rang the door bell. "Oh? Well, come on in for now."

Tsuna got up at 5:30. "You're late," many people stated as he came down for breakfast. Tsuna looked at the table. Was it just him or did the number of people increase?

"G-Gokudera-kun?" He noticed the boy frothing at the mouth. "What's wrong!"

"Ah, he and Bianchi are related. He has some kind of trauma connected to her," Shira explained.

"And the kid?" He was referring to a boy no older than nine years. He had tan hair and eyes. The boy was enjoying the omelet cooked by Nana.

"He arrived this morning. This is Fuuta. Fuuta, this is Tsuna," she introduced the two to each other.

"Nice to meet you, Tsuna-nii," Fuuta greeted.

"And why is he here?" Tsuna asked as he took his seat with breakfast in front of him.

"Oh, he just wanted to rank you and the rest of the people," she replied.

"And I'm guessing he already got the rankings for the people in this house."

"Yes. Sawada Nana's cooking is ranked first," the boy replied.

"Really? Well, I guess most Mafioso wouldn't know how to cook. Ah, except for you, Bianchi!" he quickly added after the woman glared at him.

Bianchi smiled in response and returned to feeding Reborn.

"So Gokudera, what exactly happened between you and your sister?" Tsuna asked as they walked to school.

"Well you see, ever since we have been children, my sister has had the ability to turn any kind of cooking into poison cooking. When I was a kid, she would give me her cookies before every piano recital I had. Them being poisoned and all, my playing became erratic and distorted. Oddly enough, the audience liked it, so my father ordered her to make cookies for me before every recital. Now, my stomach can't handle the sight of her," he told them.

Shira nodded. "I know what you mean. Nine years ago, I gave this one guy some chocolate. Then on White Day, he covered his squadron in chocolate, making them mad at him. He, in turn, shifted the blame on me, making chocolate zombies chase after me. That's how I hated chocolate at a very young age."

"Pity. I missed Kaa-san yelling at you for trying to take the cookie jar filled with chocolate chip cookies," Tsuna reminisced.

"The only thing I miss is you forgetting to dodge," she stated as she watched Yamamoto's daily routine. Tsuna ducked. "I still remember the first time that happened."

"You baseball idiot! What would you do if that hit Jyuudaime!" Gokudera yelled.

"It would never happen. And I see your back to your normal self, Gokudera!" Yamamoto laughed.

"That goes without saying! I am Jyuudaime's right-hand man!" There was pride in his tone.

"You're going to have to give up on that. I'm his right hand man," Yamamoto argued. "You can be the shoulder blade."

Gokudera objected. "Well you can be the earlobe!"

The argument went back and forth, the two naming different body parts.

"You two do know that I'm not becoming a boss, right?" Tsuna asked.

"Don't be ridiculous. You're the only one who's fit to be Jyuudaime!" Gokudera stated.

"I agree," said Yamamoto.

"Who said you could agree with me, you baseball idiot?" And here was the start of yet another petty squabble. It's amazing how Gokudera suddenly went back to normal after all those weeks of avoiding Tsuna. Of course, they didn't know that for two of those weeks, Gokudera was unconscious. But Gokudera would never tell them that and make Jyuudaime worried.

And then they were interrupted by a boxer running to school at full speed, with Kyoko and Hana walking leisurely behind him.

The P.A. system turned on during lunch. "Sawada Tsunayoshi, please report to the reception room. I repeat. Sawada Tsunayoshi, please report to the reception room."

"Eh? What could that be? I'll see you later, Kyoko-chan!" Tsuna started for the door.

"Jyuudaime, do you want me to come with you?" Gokudera offered.

"No, I'll be fine," he replied. The door slid shut behind him. He walked down the hallway until he found the doorplate for the reception room. He opened the door. "Um…"

"Sit," ordered a familiar voice.

"Kyouya? Why are you here?" Tsuna asked.

"I said sit. Or did you not hear me?"

"I'll take a seat, then." Tsuna took a seat on the sofa. Hibari sat in a desk with his back to the windows. "So why was I called here?"

Hibari looked at the folder in front of him. "You know full well what I'm going to ask you." He took out a certain homework paper. It was the math homework he did when he was thinking about how to deal with Bianchi.

"Um, yeah. About that…My mind was on other things. I'm very sorry!" He stood up and bowed his head when he found Hibari was staring at him.

"Why do you think I do not call you herbivores like the others? Would you rather I bite you to death?"

Tsuna raised his head. "A wimpy kid like me will always be a herbivore. The only carnivore in this school is you, Kyouya!" Despite saying that, he had a smirk on his face.

Hibari stood up. "Maybe I should announce how smart you really are," he blackmailed.

"Eh? You wouldn't." Tsuna's voice was shaky. Well of course, if people realized that Dame-Tsuna was actually Tensai-Tsuna **(1)**, they would think he was looking down on them. Then that would result in hurt pride and more bullying.

"I can and I will if you keep acting like that."

With a sigh, Tsuna sat back down. "So, what you wanted to say was that I shouldn't just suddenly become a genius?"

Hibari smirked. "Correct. If you wish to raise your grades, I suggest you work at it slowly. It is possible for you."

"You give me too much credit. Well, I suppose I should give that idea a shot. I'm not really supportive of lowering an enemy's guard with such a weak persona." He agreed to the idea. "Well, I should be getting back to class since I don't want to be bitten to death for loitering in the halls. If you want, you can come to my house after school. See you!" He left, leaving a bemused Hibari. From one of his many hiding places, Reborn smirked.

* * *

**And Gokudera is finally back. Also, for a while, I'll be updating on a bi-weekly schedule. Maybe tri-weekly. On another note, After the next chapter, I'll be using dates according to the 2011 calendar. Do not asked why I've been using the 2010 calendar. I don't know either. **

**Translation notes:**

**1. Tensai - genius**

**And poll results so far:**

**1. Gokudera Hayato - 2**

**2. Tokugawa Shiragiku - 1**

**3. Everyone else - 0**

**I'm pretty sure I have more than three readers. I do not want to end up with a five-way tie. One two-way tie, I can take. Not a five-way. I don't want to write five battles going on at once. If I don't get anymore votes, I'm skipping the Varia Arc.**


	14. Chapter 13

**13-Rankings of the Vongola.**

When Tsuna opened the door after school, he found Fuuta waiting for him. "Welcome back," he greeted.

"I'm home," Tsuna replied. With him were Shira, Gokudera, Yamamoto, Ryohei, and Reborn on his shoulder.

"Tsuna-nii, will you let me rank you?" the boy asked as Tsuna and the rest took off their shoes.

"That's what I was planning, so I invited some people." Tsuna took the time to introduce them one by one while they made their way to the living room.

"It's amazing how you've met so many people," Fuuta commented.

"He just has so much charisma that it attracts both the good and the bad," Shira stated.

"It's not my fault," he argued.

"You're the one who suggested we move to Namimori and look at the number of people we've met here. How can you say it's not your fault?" she asked. Tsuna had nothing to say.

Fuuta took out a huge book almost half his size from his jacket. "What is that?" Yamamoto asked.

"It's an extremely big book," Ryohei stated the obvious.

"We already know that, Turf head. We mean, what is it for?" Gokudera yelled.

"Who is Turf head, Tako head?" Ryohei asked.

"I really can't believe this is the guy who had been ignoring us for all this time," Shira commented. Then, the lightweight objects floated up.

Tsuna had to keep hold of his glasses. "What is this?" he asked.

"This is Fuuta's ranking mode. He creates an area of zero gravity," Reborn explained as he wore an astronaut suit, floating in mid-air.

"Gyahaha! Look, Dame-Tsuna! I'm flying!" Lambo exclaimed from the ceiling where he and I-pin floated around.

"Lambo is ranked first as the most annoying Mafioso," Fuuta stated. The child let out a sound of disbelief. "And I-Pin is ranked third as the most promising young assassin."

"Wow. I never knew that," Tsuna remarked.

"Tsuna-nii is ranked second as having the most trouble."

"Reborn, I think I'll blame you for that," Tsuna stated.

Reborn held a gun. "Mind saying that again?"

"HIIEE!"

"Yamamoto is ranked seventh as most suicidal Mafioso."

"Eh? Someone as idiotic and easy-going as this baseball idiot!" Gokudera exclaimed.

"Yamamoto always tries to commit suicide when you break one of his bones. It's a wonder he isn't dead now," Shira explained.

"It's a wonder why I'm not dead yet," Tsuna grumbled, remembering the time when Yamamoto walked in the middle of traffic and he had to push him out of the way and try not to get them both run over.

Reborn, as always, seemed to read his mind. "If you can't handle something as small as that, you will never become a good mafia boss."

"Reborn, I am not becoming a mafia boss and stop reading my mind!'

"Ryohei is ranked third as the most hyper Mafioso," Fuuta continued, ignoring the argument between student and tutor.

"How can anyone beat me to the extreme?" roared the boxer.

"I find one thing wrong with that. Onii-san isn't a Mafioso," Tsuna pointed out, giving up on convincing Reborn.

"He will be joining your famiglia though," Reborn stated.

"I'm not inviting anyone into my nonexistent famiglia!" he protested. Or maybe not.

"Gokudera is ranked 24th as most likely to sacrifice himself for his boss."

"What?" Tsuna exclaimed.

"It was all for Jyuudaime's sake!" he stated. He failed to mention that he was already injured due to temporarily being a suicide bomber.

"Shira-nee is ranked 46th as prettiest Mafioso."

"Hai?" she asked.

Gokudera laughed. "Prettiest he said! What a joke!" Shira kicked him in the shin. Gokudera winced in pain.

"And when Shira-nee brushes her hair, she is ranked 15th," Fuuta added.

"What?" Gokudera asked in disbelief.

"Great job, Shira. You've taken up two slots," Tsuna congratulated sarcastically.

"Hibari is ranked fifth as most violent." Done with his rankings, gravity returned to normal. Fuuta wrote the rankings in his book, lest he forget about them.

"Eh? He's here?" Tsuna asked.

"Tsunayoshi, you called me all the way here to listen to these herbivores? I'll bite you to death." A window was broken as Hibari came charging in.

Tsuna blocked the two tonfas with his arms, though it still hurt. "Kyouya?"

"Jyuudaime!" Gokudera held sticks of dynamite between his fingers, ready to light and throw them at a moment's notice.

"Gokudera-kun, don't damage the house!" Tsuna exclaimed.

And so, pandemonium ensued. It's a wonder how the only casualties were just broken glass.

* * *

"Shira-nee" Fuuta approached her when everyone was getting ready to go to bed.

What's wrong?" she asked.

"The truth is, when I was coming here, I heard a weird rumor about you and Tsuna-nii," he replied.

"Then why don't you tell him?"

"Shira-nee is ranked first as the best person to consult with when you have troubles."

"What in the world is with that ranking? Oh well. What was the rumor?"

"You two are not the real Shira and Tsuna because those two died a long time ago," he said.

Shira blinked. She sighed and picked Fuuta up. "Uwah! Shira-nee?"

"Fuuta, tell me, do you believe that rumor?" she asked, looking directly into his eyes.

"I don't know because I've never met Shira-nee and Tsuna-nii before." Fuuta shifted in her arms as she stayed silent. Finally, she sighed again and spoke.

"Then what difference does it make? You know us only as our present selves, not our past. It doesn't matter if we are the real ones or not. All that matters is that we are ourselves, not anyone else."

"Shira-nee, you make a great counselor," Fuuta stated.

"That's because I practice with the flowers," she stated as she put him back down.

"Thank you, Shira-nee. I feel a lot better now." He went to his new room.

Shira knocked on the door to her brother's bedroom. "Come in," welcomed the voice of Reborn. She opened the door.

"What is it, Shira?" Tsuna asked as he finished the last question on his homework.

"Fuuta talked to me about a certain rumor," she stated.

"And? Why should I know about this?"

"We are not the real Shira and Tsuna because the real ones died a long time ago," she repeated what she heard from Fuuta.

Tsuna's head shot up. "What! You can't be serious, right?"

"It's true you two the real ones, but if the other Mafioso catch wind of this, you are in big trouble," Reborn stated.

"Who spread this rumor?" Tsuna demanded.

"I don't know, and I don't think Fuuta knows either. But, whoever spread it just became an enemy. I'll ask Hana to look into it tomorrow."

"And if she can't find out?" Tsuna asked.

"Then we'll just have to wait for that person to show himself," his sister replied.

"If you survive the incoming assassins that is. Think of it as my way of tutoring you," Reborn said.

"Say, he couldn't have been the one to spread that rumor in the first place, could he?" Shira whispered to Tsuna.

"That's impossible. I'm sure Reborn would never try to kill his own student," Tsuna paused, "...except for that one time when Leon's tail fell off."

"Oh, I remember that. That was when he gave you your glasses and your pills. What happened again, though?" Shira searched her memory.

"We took you to Death Mountain," Reborn supplied.

"HIIEE! Don't remind me of that. I hate being chased by escaped convicts taking refuge there when I don't have any weapons and I bump into every single tree. Not to mention you and Leon were not helping!"

"I am a hitman. I do not help those who assist criminals," Reborn stated.

"I'm not a criminal!" he objected.

"You're right. You aren't a criminal. You just make friends with many criminals," Reborn said.

Tsuna raised his arms in frustration. "I give up!"

* * *

**Why did this chapter have to be so short! And the next chapter is short too. No translation notes either. And it's December now! I think I'll go rant about the poll now.**

**Results:**

**1. Gokudera Hayato and Tokugawa Shiragiku - 2**

**2. Everyone else - 0**

**So not only did everyone else still get no votes, but now we have a tie for first place. Are my readers lazy, or do they know I have to write the Varia Arc, despite what I said in the last chapter? I give up. So, if results are still like this until the time we have to start the Varia Arc, fights are going to end up like this.**

**First battle: Storm and Snow Rings.**

**Second Battles: Rain, Sun, and Thunder Rings; Mist and Cloud Rings.**

**Do not ask how this will happen. You'll find out before Christmas...Depending on how these chapters go. I worry about my sanity in the future.  
**


	15. Chapter 14

**14-Winter Break**

* * *

**Saturday, Dec. 17**

Reborn, surprisingly, checked the mailbox early morning. He shifted through the mail until he found a package. He smirked. The twins were not going to like this.

As for the two in question, they were playing in the snow near Namimori Shrine along with the other people. There were snow fights, snowman building contests, and much more. It was the perfect way to relieve the stress caused by Reborn, his training, Bianchi, and all mafia-related things built up over the weeks.

But before, many assassins who heard the rumor came. Some were caught by the Chiavarone Famiglia, who, surprisingly, were still there. Some were bitten to death by Hibari for disturbing the peace of Namimori. Others were dealt with by Gokudera. One, when infiltrating the Sawada household, was hospitalized due to Bianchi's Poison Cooking. And there were the unfortunate ones who went through Kokuyo to Namimori. Now, there was a rumor stating that it was still too dangerous to visit the town. And the residents had absolutely no clue.

And now back to the present. On the sidelines, Shira and Hana were sitting on the stair steps, sipping green tea. "It's idiotic," Shira commented.

"What do you expect? They are all immature kids," Hana reminded.

They watched as Yamamoto hit the snowballs with his bat, as if he was against a pitching machine in baseball practice. A multitude of snowballs hit Gokudera in the face since he was covering for Tsuna, who was making a fresh batch of snowballs to throw at the enemy. Speaking of the boy, his grades were improving slowly. His average went from a low F to a D minus. Well, if he wanted, it could go all the way up to an A, but that would be too suspicious for Dame-Tsuna.

Kyoko was building a snowman along with I-pin and Nagi, who was allowed to go out by herself. Lambo took part in the snowball fight. Ryohei punched any snowball that came into his reach. Fuuta was making the snowballs for their side. Dino was tripping over everything: snow, thin air, snowballs, Enzo, Lambo, you name it.

Shira stretched her legs and put aside her cup. "So, Hana, after all the trouble we've been through, did you find out where that rumor originated?"

"No. They are quite good to evade me for this long. Also, there's another new rumor," she replied.

Shira rolled her eyes. "Oh, joy. What could it be this time?"

"The Varia are planning to challenge Tsuna for his candidacy as the Vongola Decimo," she informed.

"Care to elaborate on that?"

Hana held out her hand. Shira looked at it with confusion. "Money."

"Eh?"

"All that information just now was a service. If you want to hear more, you'll have to pay up," she stated.

"You extort money from your friends?" Shira exclaimed in disbelief.

"No, I give them a fifty percent discount," she corrected.

"You are still one greedy middle school student," Shira complained.

"No money, no information." Hana pulled her hand back.

"Oh well. I guess we'll find out sooner or later."

"Is that your Hyper Intuition telling you?" Hana asked.

"You already know I lost my Hyper Intuition when I lost my Vongola Tenth candidacy. This is woman's intuition," Shira stated.

"I see. Well, from now on, you'll have to pay if you want information. 200,000 yen**(1)**."

"Is that with the bonus or without?" she asked.

"Without," Hana replied.

"You mean you charge your customers 400,000 yen**(2)**!" Shira exclaimed.

"Mafiosi are supposed to make a lot of money," Hana pointed out.

"For once, I'm glad we have the discount."

"Please remember that this is just me repaying for the time when your brother helped me get away from an angry famiglia," Hana reminded.

"I'll remember that. But what was that famiglia's name again?"

"The Todd Famiglia," Hana answered.

"Oh right. So if I remember correctly, they were chasing you because you stole some top secret information about them."

Hana shrugged. "It's not my fault if they don't lock things up tightly."

"Hana, you are starting to sound like a thief now. Are you an informant, an extortionist, or a thief. Pick only one, please."

"Shira-chan, do you want to play with us?" Kyoko invited as she made her fifth snowman.

"I'm fine right here." Shira took another sip of her tea as she and Hana watched from the sidelines.

"Jyuudaime, look out!" Gokudera warned as he pushed Tsuna out of the way.

"Gokudera-kun, are you alright?" Tsuna asked with concern.

"As long as Jyuudaime is fine," Gokudera assured, which made Tsuna think that he would die to protect him. Fuuta's ranking was right.

"Ahaha. I would have knocked away those snowballs without your help," Yamamoto commented as he leisurely swung his bat, unfazed by the fact that some pink could be seen and that some of the snowballs exploded.

"Gyupa! Fuuta, my grenades aren't working!" Lambo whined.

"That's because Lambo is ranked first as Mafioso with the Worst Accuracy," Fuuta informed. Another sound of disbelief escaped the child's mouth.

"EXTREME!" roared Ryohei as he extremely threw the snowballs at Yamamoto.

Kyoko and the other girls decided to block out the rest of the noise as they made a snowman in the shape of Reborn. You have no idea how much it looks just like him.

"Nagi-chan, you made a great fedora!" Kyoko complimented.

Nagi blushed. "Thank you, Sasagawa-san."

"We're friends now! Call me Kyoko-chan!" She smiled. I-Pin smiled as well, even though she understood little Japanese.

As they were talking, a girl with her tied up in a ponytail passed by. "Hahi? Gokudera-san?"

Gokudera stopped what he was doing, which was throwing snowballs mixed with dynamite. "Haru! Why are you here?"

"Oh, isn't she our neighbor?" Shira asked.

"She is. Her name is Miura Haru," Tsuna informed.

"So, Gokudera-kun, how do you know her?" she asked.

"Haru treated his wounds!" the girl replied.

"You idiot woman! Don't say that in front of Jyuudaime!"

"Wounds? Gokudera-kun, you got in a fight?" Tsuna worriedly asked.

"Yeah, but it's no big deal," he lied.

"No big deal? You were out for two weeks!" Haru corrected.

The twins, Yamamoto, and Hana raised an eyebrow. "Looks like Fuuta's ranking was true," they all agreed.

"Why is it that everyone around me doesn't know how to keep their mouth shut?" Gokudera complained.

Yamamoto laughed. "Gokudera-kun, you didn't want to worry Tsuna, right?"

"It's none of your business, baseball idiot!" Gokudera yelled. He failed to notice the six snowballs thrown at him.

"How dare you, idiot cow, Turf Top, and Jyuudaime's twin!"

"Gyahaha. Lambo-san finally hit Aho-dera**(3)**!" Lambo gloated.

"We hit Gokudera to the extreme!"

"Really? That's your nickname for me? At least be more creative." Shira rolled her eyes. Next to her, Hana was sighing at how she had actually thrown a snowball while the others laughed.

* * *

_The residents of the dreams watched as the day passed. "So it all starts. I never thought those guys would react so quickly," Giotto remarked._

_"Daemon, you wouldn't have anything to do with this, do you?" G. accused._

_"What do you take me for? I do not wish to ruin the minds of the only strong group in the Vongola," replied a man with blue, melon-shaped hair. He wore a French military uniform._

_"Well, anyone would blame you after you betrayed the Famiglia," said Asari. The Yamamoto lookalike's appearance practically exclaimed he was from the Heian Era._

_ "Unless you redeem yourself, you will never be forgiven by me or God to the extreme," Ryohei's black-haired, priestly, predecessor stated._

_"And how does a dead man redeem himself?" Daemon asked them._

_"You could rot in hell," replied a man curtly. He had sandy blond hair and blue eyes. He wore a black trench coat._

_"Or you could become my servant," stated a youth looking much like Adult Lambo only with green hair and eyes. Compared to the rest, he was much more casual, wearing a white shirt without its tie and black pants._

_"Say that again, you rude brat," Daemon challenged, his scythe materializing in his hands_

_"Daemon, don't fight with the rest of the famiglia," a woman requested. She had wavy, almost white blonde hair and translucent blue eyes. She wore a red long-sleeved dress with a ribbon tied around her wrist and her neck. Her face was strangely similar to Shira's. However the one major difference was the fact that she had a perpetual smile on her face. Daemon put away his scythe._

_Giotto sighed. "And all you people shouldn't gang up against Daemon."_

_"Giotto, you and Elena are the only ones who take his side. And you had been keeping things from us as well. You never told us Elena was your Snow Guardian," G. stated._

_"Couldn't you already tell by how alike the two look?" Giotto asked._

_"No. They don't look alike at all," Daemon commented._

_"Oh, you do not see the resemblance?" Asari asked._

_"They look extremely alike," Knuckle agreed. Alaude silently nodded._

_"I'm sorry if I don't have many distinguishable features," Elena apologized, fake tears threatening to fall. _

_G., Daemon, and Lampo could not see such a resemblance. And Daemon now felt guilty about it._

_"If her hair was longer and if she could smile, she'd look exactly like her, Daemon," Giotto pointed out._

_Daemon irritably disappeared, not liking how he could not see the resemblance that seemed so obvious to the more idiotic members of the Famiglia._

_"Elena, isn't he your lover? Go talk to him and try to stop him from doing anything foolish," Giotto ordered._

_"Understood, Boss."_

* * *

"Kufufu. Tsunayoshi-san, please explain to me why you are carrying my Nagi," Mukuro requested while he pointed his trident at the said boys neck. It was evening. Nagi tired herself out so Tsuna carried her back to Kokuyo Land, where the rest of the group lived.

"Um, Mukuro, I didn't do a thing to her, I swear," Tsuna said as beads of sweat ran down his face and he nervously looked down at the pointy end of the trident.

"Mukuro has a sister-complex with his adoptive sister. I never would have known," remarked Shira.

"Shira, you're not exactly helping here," Tsuna stated.

"That's because I wasn't trying to," she replied with a straight face.

"Should I haunt you when I die?"

"Go ahead. I'll probably ignore you."

Tsuna sighed. "You are one heartless sister."

"Aren't I always? And you're forgetting the predicament you're in right now. If Gokudera saw this, he'd blow up the surrounding area."

"Well, then it is good he's not here. With all the bills we've sent to the Vongola, I wouldn't want to trouble them with another one."

"So, exactly how are you going to get out of this?" Shira asked.

"That, I don't know," he replied.

"Well, figure it out soon. Rokudo-kun is getting annoyed," she reminded. Indeed, two veins throbbed on Mukuro's forehead.

"I'll just give Nagi to Chikusa," Tsuna called the other boy over, "and we'll just be on our way. Bye!"

* * *

As soon as everyone was asleep in their beds, Reborn smirked. He took out his phone and called a number. "It's me. You have permission to start."

Later at the Namimori Airport, no one questioned why some men in back suits came and carried sleeping children in their arms. Not to mention some of them had bruises and black eyes from dealing with the angered Hibari Kyouya that walked behind them. Maybe it was because of him that no one dared to say a thing.

* * *

**And we're finally at the Varia Arc! Happy Birthday, Chrome! I'm sorry I only found out about it today! T_T And it seems I have revealed who Shira will end up with as a lover. For those who can't tell, you must be blind. I've made it so obvious that even the people who haven't read the manga will know. ...It is obvious, right?**

**Translation notes:**

**1. 200,000 yen - roughly 2,000 USD**

**2. 400,000 yen - double the above amount. Hana seems to be a mix of Mammon and her canon self.**

**3. Aho/baka - idiot  
**

**And poll results are still the same. Is it because I'll go on with the Varia Arc no matter what? I'd still like some votes as an early Christmas present.  
**


	16. Chapter 15

**15-An Italian Winter**

**Sunday, Dec. 18**

_The snow fell quietly as two children and their father stood outside an open coffin, placing a bouquet of red roses in the folded hands of a corpse. Inside was a seven-year-old girl with long brown hair. If her eyes were open, they'd surely be violet. _

_"If you were still alive now, I'd wonder how you'd react to us now." That was when the memory turned into a nightmare. The dead corpse rose up, its eyes open. Her usual bright violet eyes were instead filled with revenge._

_"Why, Tsuna? Why did you let me ask?" it asked, its voice hoarse. Its hands reached forward and grabbed his neck, blocking the flow of air. _

_Tsuna kicked his legs and tried to make her let go. Such an attempt was futile. He stared at her white dress, now covered in bloodstains. Two shots to the left shoulder, a shot to the right arm, and when his eyes trailed to her stomach…_

Don't look! Don't look! _He silently urged himself. However, that did not work as he saw the gaping hole where her stomach should have been. Unable to tear his eyes away from the sight, tears started to roll down his cheek. He was soon unable to breathe. His hands fell limp to his sides. _

_The scene changed from a cemetery to a blood-covered alley. The body disappeared and Tsuna fell to the floor, taking in deep breaths until he realized exactly what memory this nightmare was taking control of. Gunshots. A scream. A thud. And then a roar of anger. More screams, and finally, silence. Tsuna watched as his younger self, with orange flames on his forehead and arms, blood-stained clothes, and murderous red eyes, walked towards him. _

_Tsuna took one step back in fear. The child advanced with no hesitation. He raised his small arms, engulfed in deadly flames, and charged. Tsuna closed his eyes, expecting the worst. Indeed, it was the worst. When he reopened them, he found an older version of the corpse standing in front of him. She was alive. That was the first thing Tsuna thought. Then he saw blood trickling down her mouth. He looked at her stomach. A small flame-covered hand had plunged through it._

_The two versions of him were switched. He saw his younger self cowering in fear and his present self's arm thrusting through the flesh of the now dead girl. Those orange eyes had no emotion within them. The scenery disappeared, leaving behind just him and the child. "You killed her." It was a soft voice, but Tsuna knew how this would turn out. He had to wonder how the man who originally did this felt. "YOU KILLED ONEE-CHAN!"_

_Once again, Tsuna had to see the child go into HDWM. Once again, he had to relive that painful memory, distorted by this nightmare. As if that wasn't enough, the nightmare had to torture him even more. The child was replaced with his sister, Sawada Akimitsu, a cruel smile on her face as her hand reached out. And once again, Tsuna had to relive the pain of having his eyes gorged out._

* * *

_"Decimo!" Tsuna saw his ancestor standing before him. He was glad that he could see and that the nightmare was over._

_"I think I'll be fine now, Giotto," he assured._

_Giotto was not so convinced. "Reliving painful memories is never fine."_

_"And dreaming about dead people is never fine," Tsuna added, also meaning Giotto._

_Giotto ignored this. "As long as you understand. I hope you will not be tormented by this nightmare again."_

_Tsuna gave a strained smile. "Okay." The brunette disappeared._

* * *

Tsuna opened his eyes slowly. He was in an unfamiliar bed in an unfamiliar room. He sat up. "Where am I?" he asked no one in particular.

Reborn appeared out of nowhere and landed on his lap. "Ciaossu. You're finally up, Dame-Tsuna?"

"Reborn! Where am I? What are you planning?" Tsuna demanded.

"You're in the Vongola Headquarters," he replied nonchalantly.

"Eh? I'm sorry, but did you just say we're in Vongola Headquarters? That's impossible. That's in Italy and we're in Japan." Tsuna laughed it off. His intuition was telling him that his tutor was not lying, but he refused to believe it. Thus earning him a kick in the head, sending him flying out of the bed.

"We are in Italy. While you were asleep, I put you in an airplane. Now, hurry up and wear a suit so you can eat breakfast!" Reborn threw a tailored suit at the boy.

"What?" He was shut up by another kick. Glumly, Tsuna put on the black and white suit which had the Vongola crest on the breast pocket. "This is my first time wearing something like this." He was led by a servant to the dining room.

"Tsuna, you're finally here?" asked a girl with short, wavy hair wearing the female version of the suit. It took him a minute to realize it was Shira.

"Shira, has anyone ever told you that you should brush your hair more often?" Tsuna asked.

"Has anyone ever told you to mind your own business?" she countered.

"Tsuna-kun, can you believe we're actually in Italy?" Kyoko asked.

"Kyoko-chan?" Now that he actually looked around, he spotted several familiar faces. There was his mom, Gokudera, Yamamoto, Ryohei, I-Pin, Lambo, Fuuta, Mukuro, Chikusa, Ken, Nagi, and judging from the screams in the kitchen, Bianchi or someone else. Lastly, there was an old man. "Nono!"

Nono, or rather, Timoteo chuckled. "It has been a long time, Tsunayoshi."

"Yes. Two years to be exact," Tsuna replied as he took a seat between Shira and his mom.

"So, Tsuna, why were you late?" Yamamoto asked.

"I, as Jyuudaime's right hand man, was supposed to be the one to ask him that, not a baseball idiot like you!" Gokudera yelled.

"W-well, I had a dream," Tsuna decided to reply as vague as possible.

"Was it a good dream to the extreme?" Ryohei asked.

"Er…Not really." Please don't ask about it anymore.

"You can tell me about it, Jyuudaime! I'll help!" Gokudera offered.

Tsuna resisted the urge to kill Gokudera. He did not want to talk about that disgusting dream! His hand went to his eyes. Mukuro, Ken, Chikusa, and Shira all knew what that meant.

"Mukuro, you have my permission to erase his memory again," Shira permitted with a sigh.

"Kufufu. Sawada Tsunayoshi, do not worry. You won't even feel a thing," Mukuro assured as the kanji in his red eye spun.

"Eh? Wait! There's no need to do that! And Shira, don't give him permission every time this happens!" Tsuna reprimanded.

"Pity. I thought Mukuro-sama could finally erase your memory, byon," Ken mumbled.

"It seems Tsuna refuses to part with his memories," Chikusa stated.

"What are you all talking about?" Kyoko asked.

"It's a very touchy subject for Tsu-kun and Shi-chan," Nana stated.

"Could it have something to do with when they were kidnapped to the extreme?" Tsuna made a mental note to add Ryohei to his To-Kill list.

"What? How does Turf-top know something I don't?" Gokudera asked in disbelief.

"Maa, maa. I'm sure we can talk about this later. Breakfast will get cold," Yamamoto reminded. Tsuna sighed in relief.

And breakfast war started. Lambo stole Gokudera's omelet, I-Pin yelled in Chinese to give it back, Ryohei shouted that stealing was not good to the extreme, and Mukuro conjured illusions that made Tsuna lose his appetite. As Tsuna got up to leave, Timoteo told him something. "Mi dispiace per ciò che avrà luogo in futuro."

Tsuna turned back and smile. "It can't be helped. Xanxus is troublesome after all." He shut the door as he left.

Reborn smirked. "It seems he's figured everything out."

"You mean it does involve those idiots, byon?" Ken asked.

"Yes," the baby replied. "And Shira, you will find a present among your things."

"Why does Shira-nee get a present but I don't?" Lambo complained.

"Don't worry. There will be a present for all of Decimo's Guardians." Reborn smirked as he sipped his espresso.

"Lambo-san gets a present!" he cheered.

"Oya? Arcobaleno, don't you remember how I despise the mafia?" Mukuro asked.

"You won't be part of it. You'll just be protecting your boss," Reborn stated.

"What are you all talking about to the extreme?" Ryohei asked.

"To tell you the truth, senpai, we signed you up to be the contestant for an extreme sumo match. How about we and the other contestants talk about this in Tsuna's room?" Yamamoto suggested.

"I think that's a great idea," Reborn agreed.

"Have a nice trip," Shira said.

"You're a contestant too," Reborn stated.

"What?"

"This pitiful woman can fight?" Gokudera asked.

"I don't have…a…Don't tell me." Reborn's face told her all she needed to know. "No, no, no. Tsuna will kill me if I use that again. Reborn, what are you thinking!"

"You get to go against Cain," Reborn pointed out.

"On second thought, this might be a bit fun."

* * *

"Ciaossu!" Reborn greeted Tsuna as the boy was changing.

"HIIEE! Reborn, at least knock!" Tsuna stated as he covered his shirtless torso with his hands.

"Oya? Tsunayoshi, you're becoming more and more like a girl," Mukuro noted.

"Why are you all in my room?" Tsuna demanded.

"Dame-Tsuna has a lot of scars! Weak!" Lambo laughed.

"Even Lambo is here?"

"How dare anyone harm Jyuudaime!" Gokudera growled..

Tsuna quickly put on a black hoodie. "It's nothing, Gokudera-kun. Oh? Isn't Shira supposed to be with you too?"

"Kufufu. Shirayuki is currently in her room looking for her daggers," Mukuro informed.

"What are you saying, Mukuro? We left that those with…Reborn…You didn't!"

"It is needed for her to become a guardian."

"How did you ever convince her?" he asked.

"The kid told her that she could fight with Cain," Yamamoto replied.

"Of course. But then again, he wouldn't remember us since all the Varia had their memories erased by Mukuro."

"I don't get this to the extreme!" Ryohei exclaimed. "Aren't we supposed to be discussing the extreme sumo match?"

"Sumo?"

"That's a lie I made up. You don't want Kyoko to know about the mafia, do you?" Yamamoto replied.

"Thank you, Yamamoto."

"Tch. Why does that baseball idiot get more praise than me?" Gokudera grumbled.

"Well, Yamamoto-kun has known Tsuna for more time than you," Shira pointed out as she walked in. Tsuna gulped at the sight of the daggers strapped to her thigh.

"And now that everyone's here, who wants to explain to Ryohei about the mafia?" Reborn asked. No one volunteered to teach someone so slow and dense. "I guess I'll just have to pick. Tsuna, you tell him."

"I understand." And thus came the painstaking effort of convincing Ryohei that this was no joke and he was now part of the mafia. Which lasted for about an hour. A very long hour. An extremely long hour in which everyone ended up explaining this.

And finally, Ryohei got everything drilled into his thick skull. The exhausted members of the Vongola slumped on the floor. "Next time, we rely on someone else to explain things to him," Tsuna muttered.

"Ahaha. That sounds like a good idea!" Yamamoto agreed, slightly tired.

"Of course it's a good idea. Any of Jyuudaime's ideas are good ideas," Gokudera argued.

"Lambo-san wants candy!" Nobody had anything to say about Lambo's random comment.

"So, now we can go on. The reason you are all here is because Xanxus wants to be the boss. Therefore, all of you will fight to determine who is worthy to become Vongola Decimo," Reborn explained.

"So this is what happens what the External Advisor is dead and we have two candidates to pick from," Shira mused.

"Shira, please remember that the dead External Advisor is our dead father," Tsuna reminded.

"Hai," she responded.

"So, let me give all of you your rings." Reborn gave Tsuna and the rest rings. Tsuna's had a half circle while everyone else had a half shield with a different symbol.

"Tsuna is the sky, Gokudera is the storm, Yamamoto is the rain, Ryohei is the sun, Lambo is the thunder, Mukuro is the mist, and Shira is the snow," Reborn informed.

"What about the cloud?" Tsuna asked.

"Hibari is the cloud."

"EH! But he's not here!"

"Of course he isn't. I already gave him the ring earlier and he went back to his room."

"Kufufu. So did this skylark eat breakfast in his room as well?" Mukuro asked.

"Yes," Reborn answered.

"I'm sure he was picky enough to request Japanese food from the Italian chefs," Tsuna muttered.

"I pity the chefs who dissatisfied any of his tastes," agreed Shira.

"That was probably why some of the chefs were screaming."

"Wasn't it because Bianchi was there?"

"Bianchi is taking care of the house," Reborn said, interrupting the twin's dialogue.

Gokudera sighed in relief. "But what's this about Jyuudaime being kidnapped? I'll kill whoever did such a thing!"

"Kufufu. All but eight are dead. Seven are in the Vendicare Prison," Mukuro stated.

"And you do not want to know how the others were killed," Tsuna added with a shudder.

"Which is exactly why all the bodies were burned to ashes," Shira continued.

"Then that was the famiglia you three massacred?"

"Actually, there were six of us," Tsuna corrected.

"And you don't want to catch the sixth one in a bad mood."

Tsuna got up. "Anyway, why don't you go back to your own rooms and find out what Reborn packed for us because I found a gun for some odd reason." He shot a glare at Reborn.

"That's a good idea. We'll be going now." Yamamoto ushered everyone but Tsuna and Reborn out of the room.

A mischievous glint shone in Reborn's eyes. "Since the fights won't be taking place since evening, why don't we train you?"

"Eh? Reborn?" Tsuna paled. He looked frantically for a way out.

"Don't worry. It'll be the same as when you were at Varia Headquarters, completely painless."

"But that was painful!"

* * *

Gokudera took a walk around until he bumped into Shira. "Why are you here?" he growled.

"Same reason as you. I have nothing to do," she replied.

"Tch." Gokudera took out a cigarette and lit it.

Shira coughed a bit. "I swear I'm going to get lung cancer if I have to work with you."

"Then why don't you quit?"

"Because we are already too deep in the mafia to get out."

"Huh?"

"And a word of advice. Never, ever show an eye wound to Tsuna or he will freak out," Shira advised.

"I do not freak out." The brunette showed up, running from his Spartan tutor.

"Oh really? Then what about that one time when I got something in my eye? 'What do I do, what do I do? Shira's going to go blind!'" she imitated.

"Th-that's because I thought a splinter got stuck in your eye," he defended.

"Then let me say this. I'm not going to be blind until my eyes are gorged out. That's why you're the only blind one." Shira left.

"How dare she say that to Jyuudaime! Jyuudaime is not blind!" Gokudera yelled.

"It's okay, Gokudera-kun. After all, I'm the only one whose eyes have been gorged out."

"Eh? But Jyuudaime, you're eyes are still here."

Tsuna shook his head. "These are transplants. My real eyes are gone. No. To be exact, they are Cain's now. So you can come out now."

A boy with pale blue hair and red eyes appeared from behind the pillar. "Renato was right. The illusion would be undone by the pain in these eyes." He pointed to his red eyes.

"He goes by Mukuro now. So, have any of the others recovered their memories?"

"Just me and Mammon. Is he your Storm Guardian?" Cain pointed at Gokudera.

"He has a nice red color, don't you think? It rivals our eyes," Tsuna stated.

"I wouldn't know. After all, we don't share the same sight. So, what color is Shirayuki? Is it still dark blue, or is it cyan now?"

Tsuna sighed. "She hates being called than, Cain. Especially since you're better than her in that aspect."

"So it is still dark blue. How disappointing. You mean I have to kill her when she's stuck in a wheelchair?" His eyes turned deadly.

"You are not killing anyone, Estraneo." Gokudera's ears perked up at that name. It seemed familiar.

"I will kill you," Cain stated.

"I see you want to join our mother in a block of ice."

"Why, I am only reuniting you with your sister in the afterlife."

"And I'm sure she'd slap me for trusting you."

"Haha. I'll be going now, Tsunayoshi," Cain walked away.

"How dare he disrespect Jyuudaime!" Gokudera growled, his dynamite in his hands.

"It's nothing to worry about, Gokudera-kun," Tsuna assured.

Gokudera let his arms fall to his sides. "If Jyuudaime says so."

"Now, why don't we leave Cain to his own devices and find somewhere private to talk?" the brunette suggested.

Gokudera's eyes brightened. "Jyuudaime wants to talk to me? I'm honored."

"Yes, yes. Come one. Let's go." Tsuna led Gokudera somewhere.

* * *

Timoteo sat in his office, his hand in his hands. It wasn't until there was a knock at the door did he look up. "Come in."

The door opened, revealing a boy with dirty blonde hair and blue eyes. He spoke Italian. "I'm here to give my report, Nono."

"Ah, Basil. Is this about that matter?" Timoteo inquired.

"Yes. We have been making progress. We expect to be done in five days."

"I see. That is assuring. Is that all?" he asked, noticing a look of longing in the boys eyes.

"I was just wondering about Vongola Decimo."

"You are free to talk to him."

Basil's eyes brightened up. "Really?" He quickly cleared his throat in an attempt to disguise his show of emotion. "I mean, is it really okay?"

"Of course. You don't have to be so tense."

"Well, excuse me." The door closed behind him.

Timoteo leaned back in his chair, his smile gone. "Why is it that all these kids must be entangled within the shadows of this world?"

"There was no helping it." Timoteo saw Reborn.

"Welcome back, Reborn," he greeted.

"It's good to be back. The head chef wanted me to tell you that dinner is almost ready," Reborn said.

"I will be there soon." Timoteo pause, and then he asked, "How is Tsunayoshi-kun?"

Reborn took a sip of coffee. "He is daring, to think he could escape my tutoring. Nine years have changed him from a cold kid to a naive, brat who thinks he can escape his fate of becoming Vongola Decimo."

The old man chuckled. "I'm glad to hear it."

"Don't worry about him. He is my student after all."

"You always read my mind well."

"Of course. I am your most trusted hitman after all." The two made their way to the dining room.

* * *

**This is probably the longest chapter I have ever made. It's over 3k words. That is a record. And its had been finalized. The first battle will be with Gokudera and Shira. The poll will still be up, though. But if Hibari ties with the two, he'll still be in the second day since I don't want to change my chapter. Now for the poll results.**

**Gokudera and Shira - 2**

**Hibari - 1**

**Everyone else - 0**

**This poll will stay on my profile until we get all the battles over the way. Vote while you still can!  
**


	17. Chapter 16

**16-Storm and Snow  
**

**Monday, Dec. 19**

It was now midnight. Tsuna and most of his guardians snuck out of their rooms and went downstairs where Reborn and Timoteo waited for them. "Again, I apologize."

"It's fine. I'm sure most of my guardians can handle this, hopefully." Tsuna cast an uneasy glance at Lambo, who was somehow wide awake and currently picking his nose.

"I, for one, am looking forward to beating Cain," Shira stated.

"Kufufu. I wonder if you can," Mukuro doubted.

"Who's fighting to the extreme?" Ryohei asked.

"Shut up, Turf Top!" Gokudera yelled.

"Maa, maa. Gokudera, you need to learn to control your temper," Yamamoto calmed.

"Ahodera has a temper!" Lambo exclaimed.

Tsuna sighed. "How about we move on to the bigger problem, such as the Varia?"

Reborn cleared his throat. "The Varia have been waiting for two hours. And now you and the Cervello have arrived."

"Would your Storm and Snow Guardian please follow me?" requested a woman with pink hair, a white mask, and black and white clothes appeared.

Tsuna realized who that referred to. "What? But—"

"Jyuudaime, wish me luck!" Gokudera interrupted.

"Shira—"

"I can't guarantee anything, Tsuna." Gokudera and Shira followed the woman. Later, they, Cain, and a blonde boy with a tiara and a Cheshire grin could be seen on the monitor.

"Ah!" Yamamoto's sudden cry scared many people.

"Yamamoto, please don't do that again," Tsuna said.

"Sorry. I just forgot to have a group circle!" He was too relaxed in this situation.

"I've always wanted to try that to the extreme! Let's do it next time to the extreme!"

"Kufufu. Leave me out of it."

"Gyupa! The pineapple talks!"

"Lambo, that's not a pineapple!" Tsuna yelled in fear of Mukuro stabbing the boy, his other fears forgotten.

Reborn smirked. He looked up at the elderly man. "Well, it seems you have nothing to worry about. They'll be just fine."

"Those two really have changed since I first met them."

* * *

_"Nono!" cried a subordinate._

_Timoteo rose from his seat. "What is it?"_

_"It's the Varia! After returning from their mission, they've returned with kids!" he reported._

_"Kids? The Varia did? I'll go see them." The old man walked into the lobby to see the Varia and six bloodstained kids. He bent down. "What are your names?"_

_"Cain."_

_"Renato."_

_"Rodolfo, byon."_

_"Pietro."__**(1)**_

_"Tsunayoshi."_

_"Shiragiku."   
_

_He blinked at the mention of the last two names. "Japanese?"_

_"You are familiar with the language?" the brunette asked._

_"Yes. Our External Adviser is Japanese," he replied in Japanese. He reverted back to Italian. "Welcome to the Vongola Famiglia."_

_Tsuna's eyes widened. "Vongola!"_

_"Kufufu. We've seemed to be caught by a quite troublesome famiglia. Wouldn't you agree, Tsunayoshi-san?"_

_"Not, funny, Renato."_

_"But it is funny. You're in the famiglia your father works for!" Cain interjected._

_"Cain, you weren't supposed to say that!" Tsuna roared as he was dangerously close to punching his elder._

_Pietro and Shiragiku watched as the argument led to a fist fight. A man with long silver hair stepped in to break the two up._

_"VOOII! No fighting until we get straight answers from you."_

_"Oya? But weren't you already beaten by Shirayuki?"_

_"Shiragiku," the emotionless girl corrected._

_"That's right, byon! You can't hold a candle to us, byon!" Rodolfo agreed._

_"Rodolfo, you were knocked out the earliest out of all of us," Pietro reminded._

_"Shut up, byon!"_

_Timoteo talked to perhaps the sanest of the group, a hooded baby. "Exactly what happened?"_

_"These kids already killed most of the Estraneo. You were right. They were using kids as human experiments. And they are strong," the baby reported._

_"And they are so cute too!" exclaimed a man with a green Mohawk wearing a feathered boa around his neck._

_"Shut up, trash. Just send him our report so we can leave these kids," growled a black-haired man with tanned skin._

_"Eh?" he whined._

_"Listen to Boss!" exclaimed a black-haired man with multiple piercings._

_"I think we should wash the blood off," Tsuna suggested as he walked straight forward._

_"Ah, Tsuna, watch out for the—" Rodolfo winced. "—wall, byon."_

_Tsuna rubbed his nose after bumping into a wall. "So, how about it? You're missing your eyes now?" Cain sneered._

_"You damned Estraneo!" Tsuna grumbled in response. "Why don't you join your mother in a block of ice?"_

_"Why don't you join your sister in the afterlife?"_

_Again with a fist fight. The following yells were enough to make a normal person deaf. How is it that five- and seven-year-olds cause so much trouble?_

_The kids were roughly shoved into a bathtub together by some of Nono's Guardians. They were washed and dressed in clean clothes before they were sent back to the old man. _

_ "I am sorry for not saving you children earlier," Timoeo apologized._

_"No, it's completely fine," Tsuna stated._

_"Yeah. I got to have my revenge on my dad," Cain agreed._

_"And I got to freeze your mom," Tsuna pointed out. _

_"Why do you two keep fighting, byon?" Rodolfo asked._

_"Leave them alone, Rodolfo. It's not like they'll listen to us anyway."_

_"Kufufu. Well, if you don't mind me, I'll be in the library." Mukuro went towards the door, only to be thrown over Squalo's shoulder. _

_"VOOII! Unfortunately, Nono has decided that you stay with us for a while."_

_"What?"_

_"Kufufu. I don't want to hang around the mafia." Renato's eye spun to the kanji for two and several poisonous snakes appeared to bite Squalo. The swordsman simply chopped off their heads with the sword attached to his artificial left arm. Renato frowned._

_Cain snickered. "This will be fun."_

_Ken put on a set of teeth and his hands had claws. "Put Renato down!" he demanded until his was thrown over the other shoulder._

_"Well, Nono, I don't know what made you decide this, but if these kids die, it was not our fault." Squalo walked away, Cain and Shira followed, and Tsuna kept bumping into the walls._

* * *

The Cervello explained the rules and then about the Storm and Snow Ring Battle. When the battle started, a group of wild dogs would be thrown into the room. The Snow Guardians would be blindfolded while the Storm Guardians were left alone.

Cain said it would be fun, but there was still something he didn't like. "No one told me we'd have to fight in the snow!" Yes for some reason, the room was covered in snow. "Shirayuki gets a major advantage!"

"It's Shiragiku!" she corrected angrily.

"Shirayuki? Ushishishi. The peasant Snow Guardian doesn't like that name?"

"Gokudera, kill that guy!"

"I won't follow your orders!"

From the other side of the monitor, Tsuna was wondering, _Was this really a good idea?_

Reborn kicked him. "Trust your own guardians, Dame-Tsuna."

"May the battle begin," the Cervello started.

Already, barking could be heard as wild, hungry, and savage beasts made their way across the room. "Bel, let me handle the dogs. You go ahead and kill that weakling."

"Ushishishi. A blind peasant such as you will not order a prince around."

"Oh, don't worry. I won't make the mistake of hitting you. Being blind for two months sharpened my hearing." Cain effortlessly cut down three dogs that approached with his halberd. "But I wonder how Shirayuki will deal with this."

Shira clenched her fist. "Gokudera, you can kill both of the idiots." She moved out of the way of a dog, its fangs missing her only by an inch. "And don't worry about me."

"Who would worry about you?" Gokudera grumbled as he threw his dynamite. Bel dodged them.

"Ushishi. You can't hit me because I am a prince!" Bel boasted as he revealed his weapon: knives.

A growl startled Gokudera as a dog headed his way. He threw dynamite at it, but forgot about the knives. He inhaled sharply from pain.

Meanwhile, Cain charged towards Shirayuki, his attack cutting into her side.

"Shira! Gokudera-kun!" Tsuna cried out. The white snow was dyed red, just like that day.

Shira gripped the halberd with one hand and a dagger in the other. She pulled Cain in and stabbed him in the left shoulder.

"So you allowed yourself to be injured to hit me. But it that really fitting for the Snow Guardian? Can you really be the fleeting snow that warns of the incoming cold?" he asked, taking out the dagger and throwing it to the floor.

"Yes. After all, it is why I was chosen for this role," she argued.

Cain looked around. The dogs weren't coming near them. "The fleeting snow warns of the incoming cold, by taking on the cold that will later destroy it."

Gokudera looked at them while avoiding the dogs that chose to attack him and the knives that were thrown. He was also contemplating whether he should use that move or not. It wasn't perfected yet.

"Ushishishi. You can't beat me."

A vein throbbed on Gokudera's head as he took out some dynamite. "You know what? You really piss me off. I don't care if this isn't perfected or not as long as it means beating you. Rocket Bomb!" He threw the lit dynamite and as the fuses reached the end, they flew in random directions and headed towards Bel from almost all directions. They exploded upon impact.

"Oh? So Bel was hit. I guess this means I should start getting serious," Cain stated as a cyan flame enveloped his halberd.

"Oh no," Tsuna gasped.

"Kufufu. Shirayuki won't escape this in one piece," Mukuro commented.

"Mukuro, this isn't the time to be laughing!" the boy reprimanded.

"Maa, maa. I'm sure everyone will be okay," Yamamoto assured.

"I don't see anything wrong to the extreme!" Ryohei exclaimed.

Tsuna really wanted to punch something. Reborn beat him to it by kicking him in the head. "ITE! Reborn, what was that for?" Tsuna rubbed his sore head.

"I already told you, didn't I? Trust in your Guardians, Dame-Tsuna," the baby reminded. Tsuna sighed. At least his Hyper Intuition warned him to tell Gokudera about this.

* * *

_"So what did you want to talk about, Jyuudaime?" Gokudera asked as they sat in Tsuna's room, now dubbed the meeting room._

_"It's about Cain and Shira, actually. I don't know why, but my intuition is nagging me to tell you this." Tsuna scratched the back of his head._

_"That dog and Yuki-Onna**(2)**?" Gokudera exclaimed._

_"Yuki-Onna? You changed her nickname? Oh well. They have the ability to use flames, like me."_

_"Oh, you mean those flames that don't act like flames?"_

_"The proper name for it is a Dying Will Flame. Anyway, Cain's had his flames from birth, but Shira got her flames through…" Tsuna paused._

_"Jyuudaime?"_

_Tsuna took a deep breath. "…human experimentation." Tsuna paused. Gokudera was smart enough to figure out that Tsuna was experimented on and awaited Gokudera's reaction. Surprisingly, he didn't say anything, but Tsuna could see him clenching his fist and hear him grinding his teeth. Tsuna continued. "But that experiment failed, so now she has incomplete flames. Remember when Cain asked me about whether she was cyan or dark blue? Cyan is the real color, while dark blue is the incomplete one. As a result, whenever she uses those flames, her nerves are slowly frozen."_

_Gokudera stood up. "I understand, Jyuudaime!"_

_"Eh? Understand what?"_

_"I will prevent her from using her flames and protect her—even if I hate her—until I die!"_

_"No, that's not why I told you that! Gokudera-kun!" Tsuna stared at the door where his self-proclaimed right-hand man had run out of. "I give up."_

* * *

Gokudera eyed the flame carefully. He would meet Jyuudaime's expectations without fail. Cain slammed his halberd on the ground. "Frozen Hell!" Icicles shot out from the ground, slowly making their way to the two guardians, impaling the dogs in their way.

Gokudera jumped up, an icicle now where he once stood. He threw his dynamite down to destroy the icicles so he could get some stable footing. However, he had forgotten to take care of the blindfolded girl. Luckily for Shira, the icicles were quite noisy when rising to the surface. She dodged and landed in a relatively safe area. Gokudera looked around. The only good that came from the field of icicles was that all the dogs were skewered and the dogs' entrance was blocked. However, when he turned to Shira, he saw a dark blue flame.

"Oh, so you're going to use your ability?" Cain asked.

"I have no choice. If I get killed by you, I'll probably never hear the end of it from Aki-nee. That's why I have to defend myself. So I hope you've prepared yourself." Shira knelt down and touched the patch of snow that was not covered with icicles. "Eternal Garden!" The icicles shattered as flowers of snow rose up from the ground.

"What is this?" Gokudera asked.

"I see. Eternal Garden, a garden that will never wither. But still, it will melt. A bit contradictory, don't you think, Shirayuki?" Cain questioned. "And you still haven't used your daggers. Is massacre the only time when you use your true power?"

"…I am not proud of that. I will only use my daggers with my abilities when the attacks will not cause any fatal damage. I—We don't want to kill anyone ever again."

"You lost your emotions. Why didn't you just leave them and become a hitwoman? Such a waste of potential." Cain shook his head.

"No," she replied.

"You're outnumbered. Hurry up and give up," Gokudera growled.

"Hahaha. Outnumbered? I beg to differ, right Bel?" Gokudera turned around to see the other member of the Varia, a grin of insanity plastered on his face, a trickle of blood from his forehead, and his clothes in tatters.

"Ushishishi. The royal blood has been spilled."

"He's actually still standing? But Rocket Bomb definitely hit him," Gokudera stated.

"That and Frozen Hell provided for the perfect diversion. While you thought he was out for the count, Bel decided to set up his stage. But only that, but you spilled his blood, reminding him of the time when he killed his twin brother," Cain explained.

"He killed his twin brother? Even I would never attempt to kill Tsuna!" exclaimed Shira.

"Well this guy is a psychopath," Gokudera concluded.

"For once, I'll agree with you."

"And it will be the only time, Shirayuki. You and he will die. Bel, do it!" Cain ordered.

"Ushishi. You can't order me around. I am a prince." Bel threw a couple of knives.

"Oi, Yuki-Onna, move to your left."

"I do not like your new nickname for me," she complained as she obeyed. She and Gokudera avoided the knives, yet they still had cuts. "And I will never trust your advice ever again."

"Aren't you a bit too calm right now? You should panic a bit more," Cain stated, disappointment in his voice.

"You are right. I am too calm. Actually, maybe I just can't feel anything right now. Side effects kick in so quickly." Shira sighed.

"What are you talking about?" Gokudera asked.

"Anyway, be sure to watch out for the wires. And don't forget to take the rings. Oh, I almost forgot. If you lose, I will never forgive you."

"Like I said, what are you talking about?"

"A present before I go to sleep from those stupid side effects from using Eternal Garden. This is why I hate my flames." Shira took a deep breath. "Wilting Snow." The petals on the snow flowers fell off and the snow sharpened. As they fell to the ground and then melted, they cut some of the wires.

"H-hey!" Gokudera looked at her. She was lying on the snow.

"Yeah, it might be a good time for the Snow Guardians to retire. Wake me up after I get a blood transfusion." Cain too fell, tired from blood loss. Looks like Shira managed to hit an artery.

"What is this?" Gokudera asked.

"Most of the peasants have given up." Bel frowned.

"Kufufufu. Well, the snow is fleeting," Mukuro pointed out as he watched the screen.

"And next is the relentless storm that is at the core of all attacks," Tsuna added. "Gokudera-kun…"

"Trust him, Dame-Tsuna. There's a reason why I chose him for as the Storm Guardian," Reborn stated.

Gokudera grit his teeth. "Rocket Bomb!"

Bel ran straight forward, not caring about the dynamite. He threw his knives.

Gokudera evaded it. It would the first and only time he would ever be grateful to Shira for removing the wires. There was absolutely nothing to worry about when moving around, except for the new wires, but he evaded those too. This battle would be a piece of cake, preferably not a chocolate cake for Shira's sake.

Gokudera took out a lot of dynamite. "Triple Bomb!" And he didn't drop a single one by mistake this time. By luck, two of them hit Bel.

"Ushishishi. You have spilt the royal blood again."

"What is this guy?" Gokudera wondered. He would have to settle things quickly before they got out of hand. "Rocket Bomb!"

"Shishishi. You cannot hit me!"

Gokudera threw mini bombs at Bel's direction and then regular sized dynamite.

"Shishishi. Does the peasant have such worthless hearing? You cannot hit me." However, as he said this, the mini bombs exploded in his face. He fell backwards.

"Ha! How do you like that? I threw small dynamite before the larger ones so they look about the same size. Even you didn't see it coming!" Gokudera inwardly cheered at his success. He walked forward and grabbed the other halve of the Storm Ring. Then he grabbed Cain's ring.

"Ushishishi. You can't take those. I won't let you." Bel stood up like a zombie, blood covering him everywhere.

"Tch. You still want to fight? Your ring has already been taken," Gokudera stated as he lit a new cigarette.

"It has been acknowledged that the Storm and Snow Ring Battles are over," the Cervello's voice stated.

"I don't accept this."

"Give it up, Bel. We've already lost, as much as I hate to admit." Cain sat up. "So, Shirayuki, don't you think it's time to wake up?"

"I thought you would wake up after a blood transfusion," the girl said as her eyes opened.

"We have the same blood type. Care to donate any blood?"

"You'd have better luck asking Tsuna. His eyes are compatible with you, so his blood must be too."

"But you're his twin!"

"We're fraternal twins. Now let me actually go to sleep until these side effects go away."

"Yeah, yeah. You just hate it when most of your emotions freeze for a while I don't even know how that was possible. My mom must have been really smart."

"Too bad you inherited your dad's idiocy."

"Hey!"

Gokudera listened to the conversation with confusion. "Weren't you two supposed to be enemies?"

"You get stuck with him for almost a year and a half and you are able to develop the skill of ignoring his idiocy," Shira replied.

"Besides, there is no use crying over spilled milk. Xanxus will probably kill us when he finds out we lost," Cain added.

"Ah, Gokudera-kun, don't mind them," said Tsuna's voice.

"Jyuudaime!"

"I'm glad you're alright, Gokudera-kun, Shira. You can come back now."

"Hai!" Gokudera turned to Shira. "You heard him, Yuki-Onna. Hurry up and get back."

"I'm seeing a difference in treatment here," she noted, still sitting.

"Get up already!"

"Side effects. You'll have to carry me back."

"What?"

Cain snickered. "I hope you to make it back to your rooms safely. Come on, Bel. Let's go inform our boss the bad news."

"The prince does not have to say anything."

* * *

Tsuna sighed in relief. "They won. Wait! Doesn't this mean I'm one step closer to becoming a boss? I don't want that!"

"Become the boss to the extreme!" Ryohei exclaimed.

"Eh? Onii-san, why are you saying that?" Tsuna asked.

"Because Master Pao Pao said so to the extreme!"

"Pao~!" Reborn was in another one of his costumes.

The Cervello ruined the happy atmosphere. "The next battle will be the Cloud and Mist Ring Battle. Please meet up here again at the same time."

"Kufufu. So I'm next along with that Skylark. This will be fun," Mukuro mused.

"Mukuro, do not anger Kyouya please. And do not kill anyone either!" Tsuna ordered.

"Kufufu. I do not take orders from you. I hate the mafia."

"Just go easy on them, okay?" he pleaded.

"That will depend on my mood," the illusionist replied.

"Mukuro!"

* * *

**So I'm a week late. I blame it on figuring out a move for Shira. Anyway, next is Mukuro and Hibari. I don't care if no one voted for Mukuro. I'm putting him in there anyway. It's not Mukuro and Hibari if there isn't any rivalry between them. Though there might be a delay with that chapter too. **

**Translation notes:**

**1. Renato - Mukuro's Italian name meaning reborn. Rodolfo - Ken's Italian name meaning famous wolf. Pietro - Chikusa's Italian name meaning stone. Don't ask me why his name means stone. It just does. And it is not natural for someone who is from an Italian mafia famiglia to have a Japanese name. **

**2. Yuki-Onna - Snow woman in Japanese folklore.**

**Well, the poll is going to be closed after this. Here were the final results. **

**Shira - 3**

**Gokudera - 2**

**Hibari - 1**

**Everyone else - 0**

**Maybe next time I should make a blind poll.  
**


	18. Chapter 17

**17-The Calm After the Storm  
**

* * *

_Good job making it through the first challenge. Only three more to go. I hope you'll be able to handle them."_

* * *

Tsuna got up. He put on his glasses, brushed his teeth, got dressed, and looked at the clock. 10:47. His eyes widened. "What?"

"Ara, Tsu-kun? You're up?" His mom asked as she opened the door to his room.

"Kaa-san, why didn't you wake me up?" Tsuna demanded.

"I did. The answer was always the same. 'Five more minutes.' You must have been really tired," she said.

"Yeah. Really tired," he agreed. His stomach growled. He blushed.

Nana laughed. "Do you want some breakfast?"

"Hai." Minutes later, Tsuna found himself eating pancakes. "Itadakimasu." He began to eat.

The door opened. "Why does Dame-Tsuna get to eat Maman's cooking while Lambo-san doesn't?" Lambo whined.

"But, Lambo, you already ate breakfast."

"Lambo-san wants to eat Maman's cooking!" the child whined.

Nana smiled. "I guess there's no choice. Wait for a while. I'll cook some more pancakes."

"Yay!" Lambo jumped up in joy.

Tsuna quickly finished his breakfast. "Gochisosama." He left to visit Gokudera, who was in the infirmary.

"Jyuudaime, I'm honored you came to see me!" Gokudera stated. He was covered in bandages, but there was no problem.

"No, he came to see me," Cain argued from the bed beside him. Cain only had his left arm in a sling and a blood transfusion.

"Like he would ever come to see you." Shira was in the same state as Gokudera.

Cain scoffed. "I bet he wouldn't see the two of you either!"

"I came to visit Gokudera." Tsuna could see the said boy giving Cain a look that said 'I told you so.' "And there's no way I would ever visit Cain."

"What about me?" Shira asked.

"You can handle yourself just fine, seeing that you ignored everything I've been saying for the last nine years and used both of your abilities." Tsuna shot a glare at her.

"Fine then. I won't visit you if you use your second ability."

"_If_ I ever use it. Like there's going to be any ashes around." Tsuna rolled his eyes.

"Ashes?" Gokudera asked.

"Tsuna is the human radar and ash manipulator. Shirayuki—"

"Shiragiku."

"—is the snow flame user and snow manipulator," Cain finished.

"What a strange combination," remarked Gokudera.

"Shirayuki and Natsuyoshi!" Cain exclaimed out of the blue. "Well, Natsuyoshi needs a nickname," he reasoned after all the stares he got.

"What? Now I have one of your weird nicknames that is going to spread to Mukuro and his group?" Tsuna was not spending the rest of his life being called Natsuyoshi. Besides, that would ruin the game of Shiritori his parents played when naming children.

"How childish are you?" Shira asked.

"He has the energy of a puppy," Gokudera grumbled.

"That could be true." Tsuna leaned against a window. He looked at the snowy landscape in the corner of his eye.

"His hair does look like puppy ears," Shira mused.

Cain tapped the two drooping spikes of hair on the sides of his head. "These do not look like puppy ears. They are…horns, that's it. Horns."

"They are puppy ears," she insisted.

"They are horns."

"Puppy ears."

"Definitely ears," Gokudera agreed.

Tsuna suddenly had a coughing fit as his face was turned to the window. However, if one strained his ears, he would realize that the coughs were to disguise the laughs that threatened to escape his mouth from whatever he was looking at. But of course, no one would strain their ears for a cough, leaving Gokudera to worry if Jyuudaime had a contagious disease, Shira to offer him a glass of water she found nearby, and Cain to ignore him.

"Jyuudaime, are you okay?"

Tsuna took a deep breath to calm himself. "I really hope Mukuro doesn't decide to look out the window."

Shira leaned forward to get a better view of the window. They were on the first floor, so that made it easy to see the ground. And Hibari and Nagi having a snowball fight while Hibari just got a snowball to the face and shoulder and Nagi was untouched by the snow projectiles. "I'm dreaming. There is no way Hibari-kun is getting beaten by Nagi and she hasn't been bitten to death. Is that the faintest hint of a smile on his face?"

At this time, Gokudera was scrambling out of the infirmary bed to see the impossible scene. The cigarette he had in his mouth fell as his jaw also fell. Cain looked at them with a puzzled face. "What? Is this Hibari guy some kind of infamous guy?"

Tsuna didn't answer the question and only responded with a frantic voice yelling, "Duck!"

Cain was the only one not ducking, and his Varia Quality was dulled by the smell of antiseptic in the room. Therefore, he didn't react when something was thrown in their direction, broke the window, and glided over the ducking heads to hit the puppy-eared boy in the face, perhaps breaking a nose in the process and freezing the face.

"How does a snowball break a window?" Shira asked.

"I think the main question here is how can a snowball break a window and a nose," Tsuna corrected.

"It isn't even made of ice."

"You need to have a really strong arm for a snowball to act like a bullet."

Shira paused for a moment before saying something. "Speaking of which, Yamamoto didn't throw any snowballs in that snowball fight the other day. And if I remember correctly, last year, didn't one of his snowballs…" she paused, thinking for the right words. "…um, allowed us to remodel the kitchen?" In other words, it destroyed the kitchen, leading Nana to become very made again.

"Is Yamamoto another one of your guardians too?" Cain asked, wiping the snow off his face.

"Yeah, and duck!" Tsuna yelled again. And again, Cain was the only one pelted by three snowballs.

"Tsuna, you aren't ordering your guardian to exact your revenge on me, are you?" The boy's right hand reached for the halberd under the bed.

"If I wanted my revenge, I'd just attack. Only Shira would use such a roundabout way of ordering other people," Tsuna argued.

"Hey, don't shift all the blame on me. I didn't do a thing!" she protested as another round of snowballs headed their way. This time, everyone ducked, so the snowballs made a hole in the wall before being stopped by the next wall.

"Who dares to keep throwing these at Jyuudaime?" Gokudera demanded as he sprung from his bed, dynamite in his hands.

"Natsuyoshi, whatever happened to our warning?" asked Cain.

Tsuna ignored him. "Gokudera-kun, since you are the most able person here, why don't you go bring back the person responsible for all this?" he suggested.

Gokudera put away his dynamite. "Anything for Jyuudaime!" He ran out the door.

"What, you couldn't do it yourself?" asked Shira.

"Not when I haven't learned the effects of sustaining Eternal Garden for two minutes and releasing it with Wilting Snow. That was the stupidest thing you could have ever done. Value your life more!" he scolded.

"Sorry," she muttered, her head bent down.

"So, what how are the side effects?"

Shira thought for a moment. "The emotional freeze wore off overnight. My arms aren't as numb as they were before. As for permanent things…" she looked at him uneasily.

"Either way, I'm still setting restrictions, so you better spit it out."

"I can't move my left ankle?"

Tsuna was really glaring at her now. "You are now limited to using Eternal Rose and flame-coated weapons."

"What? But that takes out most of my arsenal!" she protested.

"I see. So you'd rather be stuck with just flame-coated weapons?" her brother threatened.

"On second thought, I'd like to include just Eternal Rose with that." She sighed, no doubt regretting her actions a couple hours ago. She was also formulating a plan to get back at him. One that involved a phone call to some old friends.

"I'm glad you aren't as much of n idiot as I first thought. Though I doubt it will last long, knowing you." Tsuna was wondering what she would do this time.

Cain snickered. "I bet a couple of euro that she's going to blackmail you."

"No, she'll blackmail you. Xanxus doesn't remember that you are also a Vongola heir," Tsuna corrected. "Even though your sky flames are similar to Shira's snow flames," he muttered.

"I can't help it if the Estraneo have trouble adding extra flames to a person. Besides, it's all because they are horrible at eliminating the other flames."

"Yet you can use your snow flames while Shira can't use her sky flames. I hardly think that's fair."

"Well life isn't fair."

"How surprising. You actually say something meaningful from time to time."

"Hey! I resent that!"

"I resent your personality."

"I resent all of your habits of wasting my money." Tsuna and Cain turned to see Mammon hovering beside Shira, who was on the phone.

"M-Mammon," Cain stuttered.

"Uh, long time to see?" Tsuna questioned if he should really be that friendly with someone who looked as if he could kill him, despite being a baby.

"Oh, the five million boy," the baby acknowledged.

"Hey, I can't help it if perfecting a new technique damages the whole west wing," Tsuna defended.

"And the ruined garden was not my fault whatsoever," Shira added.

"I don't know anything about the broken bottles of expensive liquor!" Cain only added to the total cost for repairs and replacements. Of course, it would be a lot more if you added the books Mukuro burnt, the vases Ken would break, and the pillows-turned-pincushions, courtesy of Chikusa.

"You guys aren't exactly helping," complained Tsuna.

"Who said we were trying to?" they asked in unison.

Tsuna shook his head, wondering if he and Shira were actually a set of triplets with Cain. They were on the same wavelength at times. "Now if only Cain was born on October 14 instead of November 16."

"What was that?" the teen in question asked.

"Nothing," he replied.

"Mammon, why are you here?" Shira asked. "There's no way you would come here just to see us again."

"Of course not. My account was dried up after all the damage you kids caused."

"What can I say? We were just kids back then."

"Kids without emotions, sight, some with a lust for destruction, and some with a newly-found fear of chocolate." Mammon sighed. "I really wonder how the Estraneo could contain you."

"You should be thankful there were always sedatives around. If it weren't for those, Cain would have killed every single person except his mom," Tsuna explained.

"And when we did get out, you and Shirayuki just had to put her in a block of ice," he grumbled.

"We never did like her to begin with," stated Shira

"But she's still alive, you know. Just frozen," Tsuna added.

Mammon was going to say something but decided against it. If the puppy wasn't going to say it, then he wouldn't either. "Cain, I'm deducting the medical bills from your paycheck."

"What? But I need my money! Why don't you leech that money off of Bel? He's a prince so he has to be rich!" the boy protested.

"I refuse," was the baby's reply.

"I'm seeing favoritism here. I am definitely seeing favoritism here," Cain grumbled.

"I say he deserves it, don't you?" Shira asked her brother.

"I agree. Just cancel that call you made because I don't deserve a thing," Tsuna compromised.

"Too bad. When I was talking to them, one of the guys destroyed the phone. It's too late now." If she could smile, Tsuna was sure he'd see those smiles his mom gave whenever they broke something.

"I wonder when Gokudera-kun will come back." Tsuna changed the subject.

"I'm right here, Jyuudaime!"

Tsuna jumped as Gokudera's head popped through the broken window. "G-Gokudera-kun. I wasn't expecting you to be back so soon."

"Ahaha. I was surprised to when he ran towards me so quickly. I thought he was Senpai for a moment," remarked Yamamoto.

"So he is one of your guardians? He looks a bit weak," Cain observed.

"Jyuudaime, this baseball idiot was throwing the snowballs at you!" Gokudera informed.

"I didn't know you were here, Tsuna," apologized Yamamoto.

"No, it's okay. But why would you throw snowballs at the window?" Tsuna asked.

"The kid told me to," he answered.

Tsuna fell silent. "Reborn…told you to?"

"That's right, Dame-Tsuna." A hole opened up in the ceiling as Reborn dropped on top of Tsuna's head, sipping his coffee. "You need to work on your reflexes more. If it was me, I would have noticed those snowballs 0.07 seconds earlier."

"You were timing me?"

Cain laughed. "Natsuyoshi, you still have to be tutored by him. You are pathetic."

"Who was the guy that was hit by the snowballs? I say you are more pathetic," Shira argued.

"How did you even make Varia, you puppy?" Gokudera sneered.

"I am not a puppy! These are horns, not puppy ears!" he protested.

"Ahaha. They really do look like puppy ears," Yamamoto laughed.

"Even the new guy is calling them ears. Mammon, tell them these are ears!"

"Pay up first," the baby demanded.

"Viper, what are you doing here?" Reborn asked.

"I am here simply to inform Cain Estraneo of his current financial state," he replied.

"Oh, right. Yamamoto, did you see Kyouya and Nagi while you were outside?" Tsuna suddenly asked.

"Of course. Hibari and Nagi seem to be having fun out there!"

Reborn smirked. "Part 1 of Operation Cupid is a success."

"Reborn, you're playing matchmaker. And there's more than one part?" Tsuna was just full of questions today.

"Of course. There's one part for every girl."

"You mean you are pairing me up with someone? I refuse!" Shira stated.

"Well, Part 2 is tomorrow. You don't have to worry about anything until then."

Shira didn't look happy. She was still scowling at midnight.

* * *

**Tuesday, December 20**

"So can we form a group circle this time?" Yamamoto wondered.

"Did I miss something?" Shira asked. She was stuck on crutches with a cast around her left ankle.

"Yamamoto decided to do this yesterday. Then again, I doubt Hibari and Mukuro will participate." Tsuna was proved wrong.

Yamamoto and Ryohei dragged the two along with everyone else into their circle and together, the two shouted, "Vongola FIGHT!"

"The world is definitely ending tomorrow," Tsuna decided. It also should be noted that most of the Varia was here this time.

"So you are the trash that dared to challenge me."

"No one challenges Boss and lives!"

"Some of the boys there look like my type!"

"VOOII! We don't care who is your type or not!"

"Shishishi. I hope you lose this time."

"Natsuyoshi, say good-bye to your guardians."

"You know, I don't think they've changed one bit," Shira commented.

Tsuna clenched and unclenched his fist. "Remind me to kill Cain when the Sky Ring Battle comes along." An aura full of murderous intent leaked out.

Cain shivered. "N-Natsuyoshi, would you mind turning that down?"

"It's Tsunayoshi, you puppy!"

"These are horns, not puppy ears!"

"They look like ears to everyone else!"

Shira sighed. "Why do you people always argue? Rokudo-kun and Hibari-kun are coming up on the screen."

The two were shown in an empty room along with Mammon and a young man with sea green hair, sea green eyes, and sea green eye shadow.

"The room looks normal. There aren't any tricks?" Gokudera asked.

"There is no need for any. The illusionists will supply their own traps and tricks," the Cervello explained.

"The Mist Guardian's duty is to be the phantom mist that creates something from nothing and nothing from something, hiding the family's true form. The Cloud's role is to be the aloof cloud that guards the family from his position without being controlled by anyone. I say those two complement each other," Reborn stated.

"It will be a disaster if Mukuro finds out what happened a few hours ago," Tsuna muttered.

"Really? I don't see any harm with Nagi and Hibari playing with each other," said Yamamoto.

"WHAT? HIBARI PLAYED WITH NAGI TO THE EXTREME?" Ryohei exclaimed.

"Kufufu. I heard that. So my Nagi has been defiled by this skylark?"

"I think Mukuro is getting the wrong idea," Shira whispered.

"Onii-san really needs to learn to be quiet sometimes," Tsuna muttered again. "And now we have a disaster on our hands."

"The Cloud and Mist Ring Battle will now begin!"

* * *

**I have finally finished this chapter. Yay! I still miss my prewritten chapters. Well, the Varia's Cloud Guardian is not Gola Mosca. It is Kikyo! And it won't be permanent either because after the end of the arc, Kikyo will leave. **

**And I'm very happy right now because I got 4 voters already! Don't expect me to tell you the results so far but I will tell you that they are completely different from the other poll. And since the author notes will be gone after this, I'll copy and paste it here.**

**No new chapter yet. I am still stuck on Hibari and Mukuro. While you are waiting, why don't you check out the new poll. This is for the Sky Battle and won't end until a long time. Basically put, I'm planning on having Lambo accidentally use his bazooka on another person. Every guardian but the bosses are the choices. You can pick up to two characters. Also, plan on waiting a long time while I deal with the horrible Varia Arc block. I really hope it won't be like this when I have to deal with the Future Arc. If it does, well, I probably will just go on to making the side story and forget about this entirely. But that will have to wait until after I finish this arc. I'm not giving up until this gets finished.**

**Good luck waiting!**

**And now on to the review corner!**

**10th Squad 3rd Seat - Is this the same anon? Well, as for every question you asked, I'm sure they've already been answered unless you haven't finished reading yet. I don't think Tsuna's eyesight has been addressed yet. I'll try to answer that when we get to the Shy Ring Battle. As for why Reborn is a sadist, let me ask you this: When has Reborn not been a sadist? And yeah, there have been a lot of changes, but remember, this isn't exactly the same story.  
**

**jrlrock - Finally, another reviewer from Shadows and Reflections! And you liked the Crimson Brothers. I'm sorry for our loss of them. If you want, I can make a separate series about them. I personally liked Meatball.*cries* MY MEATBALL! How could you remind me of him?  
**


	19. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18 - A Hazy Match  
**

"I am really worried about this," Tsuna stated.

"Oh thank you very much for telling us that? So why are you worried? Is it because Hibari-kun and Rokudo-kun are attacking each other or because Rokudo-kun and Hibari-kun are attacking each other?" Shira asked sarcastically.

Cain laughed. "Renato and the other guy are fighting each other. Natsuyoshi, you picked some hilarious guardians."

Tsuna's aura was no longer leaking. It was coming out at full blast. "Mind repeating that again, Estraneo Boy?"

"Here we go again." Shira sighed.

"Stop it, Jyuudaime. I'll kill him for you!" Gokudera offered, his dynamite out and ready.

"Hey, I'm handicapped here! Squalo, tell them I'm handicapped!" Cain pleaded, pointing to his left arm that was in a sling.

"VOOII! It's your fault in the first place. Don't drag me into this." For some reason, Squalo felt this situation was very familiar.

"Holy cow, it's exactly the same as last time," the puppy exclaimed. "Shirayuki, help me!"

"If it's the same as last time, then what do you think I'm going to do?" she asked.

Cain thought for a moment. "Let's see. Last time, you, Rodlfo, and Pietro encouraged Natsuyoshi and Renato to beat me up."

"Tsuna, you can go ahead and kill him."

"I knew it!" So while Cain was running for his life away from Tsuna and Gokudera, Hibari and Mukuro were still fighting each other.

"Kufufufu. What did you do to my Nagi?"

"I'll bite you to death," was the only response.

"If you did that to her, I will kill you."

"Oho? Fighting amongst each other. I never thought our fight would be this easy," Kikyo mused.

"It will cost less money now," Mammon added.

As he said this, Mukuro's right eye seemed to spin as it changed into the kanji for one. Cracks in the floor formed and pillars of lava shot out from under them. "Kufufu. I won't forget about you two either."

"Say, what would happen if someone made an illusion of sakura trees in front of Hibari-kun?" Shira asked out loud.

Tsuna stopped chasing Cain for a moment. "Of course, Kyouya would bite him and me to death."

"So what if that illusionist is Rokudo-kun?"

"Don't be ridiculous. Mukuro uses lotus flowers, not sakura trees."

"Then how do you explain that?" She pointed at the screen where there was an illusion of sakura trees in front of Hibari.

Tsuna paled. "Mukuro, why did you pick today of all days to use sakura trees instead of your usual lotus blossoms?" He could see Hibari getting very irritated at the trees.

* * *

_Seven years ago, they first met. Tsuna and Shira sat on the benches, many kids avoiding them. Hibari had been sleeping on a tree branch before a ball was thrown dangerously near him. His eyes snapped open and he jumped down, scanning for the person who threw the ball. He eyes fell upon a boy who was shaking, his arm outstretched like he had just thrown something—a ball._

_Hibari got out his tonfas and a made a move towards the boy, who was already wetting his pants. Bfore he could land a hit, Tsuna grabbed his arm. "What are you doing, herbivore?"_

_Confusion fell on Tsuna's face. "Herbivore?"_

_"You are weak herbivores who have crowd around. It disgusts me." _

_"Eh? I am weak? Then you are saying you are strong? Then don't the strong protect the weak?"_

_"I am a carnivore. I hunt the weak and keep them in line. You are disturbing the peace with your actions. I will bite you to death."_

_Tsuna let out a sarcastic laugh. "How terrifying." He dodged a tonfa. "But after losing your eyes, you begin to forget what fear feels like." From behind the lenses of his glasses, his eyes grew sharper, matching Hibari's eyes. He would have fought back if it weren't for the tug on his shirt. Tsuna turned around to see Shira. She pointed at several kids who were trembling and getting ready to run away. "Fine. I'll stop for now." His eyes relaxed and he left before Hibari could stop them._

_Months later, on April first, Hibari saw them again. The boy seemed pathetic now. He had a timid look in his eyes. He tripped over air. His grades were poor. And what bothered Hibari the most was the fact that he would let himself get bullied. He was an herbivore, just a shadow of the carnivore side he had glimpsed before. _

_After school, he packed his bags and glared at anyone who looked at him as he made his way outside. He was mildly surprised to see that herbivore waiting there but didn't allow it to show on his face. "Why are you here, herbivore?" he demanded, his tonfas out._

_"No one will interrupt us here. We can fight to our hearts' content," he replied. _

_Hibari smirked. So he did have a carnivore side after all. He assumed a stance. "I'll bite you to death." That was all that was said before the two fought._

_More than an hour passed as they grew tired. Every blow was matched with another blow. Ever underhand tricks were seen through. Every slip ups were quickly fixed. Shira found it hard to believe that they were just children. However, Hibari decided to settle things as thorns appeared on his weapons. Tsuna, too, saw it fit to flare things up a bit, literally, as he went into HDWM. And again minutes passed._

_There wasn't much change except for some cuts and some burns and the small splatters on blood mixed with dirt. Oh, and Tsuna's glasses were broken and thrown haphazardly on the ground so he would occasionally bump into a tree. It was then the wind started to blow strongly, scattering sakura petals around and blocking Hibari's view of Tsuna. When things settled down, the younger boy was no longer near the sakura trees. Hibari looked around but didn't see him._

_"Look up." And when he did, the last thing he saw before waking up in the hospital was the sakura trees he would soon come to hate for being the very things that cause him to lose to this strange combination of a carnivore and herbivore. _

* * *

"Yeah, he probably hates you for that," Reborn agreed.

"How is it that you know what I'm remembering? You read faces not minds, right?" Tsuna asked.

"When did I ever say that?" the baby replied.

Tsuna suppressed his frustration at him and turned it to another. "Cain, since you are so adamant about your ears being horns—"

"These are horns!"

"—then I've found the perfect nickname for you." Cain gulped at the uncharacteristic gleam in his eyes. "Scapegoat." Cue the running for your life again.

The other Varia members laughed at that. "Scapegoat? Fits perfectly for trash like you."

"How does one maintain a straight face through this?" Lussuria meant Shira.

"How should I reply to someone I hate?" she asked back, confusing him.

"Maa, maa. While all of you were arguing, Mukuro is reenacting the events of that day," Yamamoto pointed out. They turned back to the screen, where you could see nothing but a flurry of sakura petals.

"Kufufu. What will you do, Arcobaleno?" the taller illusionist taunted.

"Yare, yare. It seems I might have to pay some extra costs after all." There was a clink as chains fell to the ground. Reborn's and Mammon's newly revealed indigo pacifier started glowing. The petals were changed into sand, creating the illusion to a sandstorm.

Then, all of a sudden, Hibari emerged from the storm and charged at Kikyo, who was knocked unconscious. "A weak herbivore," he noted sourly.

"Kufufu. Is this all you can do, Arcobaleno? Illusions are a cheap trick." Mukuro watched as Kikyo's body disappeared. The real Kikyo was behind him, ready to strike when Hibari turned around and swung at him. This time, Kikyo stepped back before he was hit in the gut.

Hibari's eyes gleamed with anticipation as he was realizing how strong the man really was. "I'll bite you to death." He pressed a button and thorns appeared on his tonfas.

"Kufufu. Why don't we settle things as well, Arcobaleno?" Mukuro asked. "I'm sure you didn't like finding out about the illusion I cast on all of the Varia."

"I already made plans to charge you for that," the baby replied. He produced more copies of himself.

"Kufufu. It was your fault for letting your guards down around children," Mukuro replied.

Suddenly, Kikyo was knocked away after failing to dodge a hit from Hibari and…

"VOOII, why is the screen black?" Squalo demanded.

"HIIEE! Kyouya broke the camera!" exclaimed Tsuna.

Yamamoto laughed. "Now we can't know what's going on!"

"That isn't something to laugh about, you baseball idiot!" Gokudera yelled.

"Nee, Dame-Tsuna, why isn't the movie playing?" asked Lambo as he tugged on the brunette's pant leg.

"Ushishishi. That's right. You can't stop a 'movie' when the prince is still watching it."

"Bel's agreeing with the kid? Natsuyoshi, can you punch me in the face so I can wake up?" Cain requested.

"Sure. I'll punch you so hard that you will never wake up," Tsuna complied. Cain paled and stepped back.

"Amazing how your personality changes just like that. Maybe it's because he's been Dame-Tsuna for too long," Shira speculated.

"Aren't there any other cameras?" Reborn asked the Cervello.

"There should be. Don't tell me they were all broken."

"I should try that to the extreme!" Ryohei exclaimed.

"No, don't! I want to capture my beauty on film!" Lussuria whined.

"VOOII! Who cares about your beauty? We are an assassination squad, not some fashion models!" Squalo yelled.

"I want Boss to watch me win against whoever the Thunder Guardian is," Levi said.

"Shut up, trash!" Those words plus a gunshot effectively shut everyone up.

"W-well, why don't we just wait for now?" Tsuna hesitantly suggested.

"Lambo-san is bored," the child complained after only a couple of minutes.

"Do you want to go back to sleep now?" Shira asked.

"No! Lambo-san doesn't want to leave before everyone else! Lambo-san promised Maman!" he protested.

"Eh?" she responded.

"Maman is worried, so Lambo-san promised to watch you! Lambo-san wants to pay off his debt!"

"I see. You've already paid it off. You can sleep now."

Lambo shook his head. "Not enough. Lambo-san hasn't paid off everything yet!"

"You are Tsuna's guardian. That means a lot, since you are protecting him."

"Really? Promise you're telling the truth!" Lambo held out his hand.

Shira held out her pinky. "Promise. I'm not lying." Lambo, feeling assured, yawned and promptly fell asleep.

"And so Counselor Shira helps yet another child," Tsuna mused.

"And yet I can't help my own childish self. Elena doesn't help either," she complained. "I am not very good at resolving past traumas. It's impossible to save some people."

"You give counseling and Tsuna gives pep talks. I think with those, you can still save a considerable amount of people," Yamamoto voiced.

"Tch. I hate to agree with the baseball idiot, but he's right. Jyuudaime saved my life after all," Gokudera agreed.

"Gokudera-kun, we're focusing on Shira, not me," Tsuna stated.

"A yuki-onna never saves people. She kills them." Gokudera was hit by a thrown crutch and Shira fell on her back due to losing her balance.

"Who are you calling a yuki-onna? I don't have black hair, and I don't wear a white kimono," she argued from her spot on the floor.

"You are the _Snow_ Guardian. That's all."

"Why is it that I have to talk so much today? I refuse to be called a yuki-onna and that's final! Tell me the outcome of the match in the morning." She sat up and used her remaining crutch to bring the other crutch towards her. She got up and went out the door.

"Shirayuki left. I blame the dog," Cain said.

"I didn't do anything, you puppy!" the so-called dog protested.

"A puppy is better than a—wait, why are our nicknames switched? I could have sworn I was the dog just this morning!"

"You just now noticed that? Are you a bigger idiot than Onii-san?" Tsuna quickly clamped his mouth. "N-no offense, Onii-san."

"Did you say something to the extreme, Sawada?" Ryohei asked.

Tsuna had a disbelieving expression on his face. "Never mind."

"And you're saying I'm dumber than him?" Cain asked.

"It's actually a very close tie. Maybe if we take you two to a neurologist and check out the activity of your brain cells, we might find out who's the bigger idiot," Tsuna mused.

"Oi, don't go all genius mode on me. I got a headache when you found that book on quantum physics and tried explaining it to me. You completely match the glasses stereotype **(1)**," Cain whined.

"I think that headache ruined your memory. You got a headache because Mukuro used the Possession Bullet on you, and you were sent as a decoy," Tsuna reminded.

Cain clutched his head. "Don't remind me about the Death Mountain Incident! My mind's still recovering from that deadly bird's pecking!"

"Kufufu. To that the boy who beat Lussuria would be defeated by a mere bird."

All heads turned to the source of the voice. Mukuro waved nonchalantly as though he wasn't bleeding from his right shoulder. Hibari has a few minor cuts while Kikyo sported many bruises. Mammon was completely fine.

"Who won?" the Cervello asked.

"Kufufufu. It was a draw," Mukuo stated.

"Herbivores," Hibari muttered.

"I better get paid for this," Mammon demanded.

"O-ho. To think I lost," Kikyo mused.

"VOOII! You got a draw against a couple of kids?" Squalo yelled.

"Renato is actually bleeding?" Cain exclaimed.

"Kyouya actually got injured?" Tsuna said in a similar fashion.

"I'll bite you to death."

Tsuna hastily made a motion to zip his mouth. Reborn decided to sit on his shoulder. "So, Mukuro lost and Hibari won? Your skills have rusted. Or is this not the real result?"

"Kufufu. You are sharp as always, Arcobaleno. But, do you really think I'll tell you anything?" Mukuro asked.

Reborn smirked. "I guess we'll just have to wait and see." He turned to the Cervello. "So is the next fight between the remaining three guardians.

"Yes. Tomorrow, at the same time, please meet here with the Rain, Sun, and Thunder Guardian."

"Eh? Then that means…" Tsuna's eyes wandered to the smiling Yamamoto, the shadow-boxing Ryohei, and lastly, the snoring Lambo. "We are doomed."

* * *

**Well, this took longer than expected, but it's finally finished. By the way, in case you haven't noticed yet, I'm typing flashbacks of how Tsuna meets his guardians. Mukuro is excluded because his flashback is part of another insanely long one. Let's just hope I can get that far.**

**1. This isn't really a translation note but a remainder of something I almost forgot. Tsuna wears glasses. **

**As for the poll results, I only got one more voter. Remember, this is your chance for an early sneak peek at the TYL versions of two characters. Vote! ...I sound like some kind of advertiser so I'll just shut up here. See you...maybe in a month?  
**


	20. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

* * *

_Oh? You have completed the second challenge. Good job. Just two left. Will things go as easily, I wonder?_

* * *

"That's surprising. It ended in a draw?"

"According to Reborn, something happened when Kyouya broke the cameras. I agree with him, but none of them are saying anything."

"Well, it's nothing to worry about, right? As long as you trust them, they'll answer to it."

"Yeah, but I'm also worried about the fight tonight. What if one of them dies this time. And Lambo is still a kid."

"You know, I may be the unofficial counselor of the group but that doesn't mean you can just confess all these things to me like a schoolgirl with a crush!" Shira yelled at her brother.

"That's right, Sawada-dono! Master taught me that as a Japanese samurai, you must face things head on!"

There was silence for a moment until Tsuna cleared his throat. "So, who is this guy and why is he in the infirmary?"

"I have no clue. I just found him here last night sipping green tea and suddenly he just bows to me. He seems really gung-ho on Japanese traditions." Shira herself also sipped a cup of green tea.

"I am humbly sorry of my rudeness. I am Basil, thy humble servant," Basil introduced himself as he bowed so deeply that his head touched the floor.

"I never thought I'd ever hear such archaic language in this era," Tsuna stated.

"Funny thing is, his Italian is completely modern."

"So, Basil-kun, do you work here?"

"Not exactly. I work for the CEDEF," he replied.

"Hey, isn't CEDEF…"

"…the organization Tou-san works for?" she finished. "Yeah. Why do you ask?"

"Why would the CEDEF be here? I thought they could care less who becomes Vongola Decimo now that Tou-san died."

"Master is not dead yet," Basil interrupted.

"What? You mean he survived that plane explosion?"

"Yes. He's still recovering, but he is fine."

"That old man! How dare he still live and not tell us a thing for two years. Does he even know how much Kaa-san worried about him?" A murderous aura surrounded Tsuna.

"S-Sawada-dono?"

"He's snapped. You should go near him right now or else you might lose your life," Shira warned.

"I haven't snapped yet. I am just venting all my anger out on that no-good father of ours," Tsuna argued, though no matter what he said, it doesn't change the fact that he's snapped.

"Dame-Tsuna just called his dad dame. I guess we all know where the dame genes come from," Shira mused.

"Um, Tokugawa-dono, shouldn't thou calm him down?" Basil asked.

"No. I just don't feel like it. Plus, I'm still wondering if Rokudo-kun purposely made his injuries the mirror images of Cain just to piss me off. I mean look at them when they're standing side by side! I swear he does this every single time!" She pointed at the two, who were sitting in adjacent beds and listening to her with mild amusement.

"Kufufu. Would you like an illusion to cover it up?" Mukuro offered.

"NO!" Tsuna, Shira, and Cain shouted.

"Oya?"

"We are still trying to get the image of your rotting flesh out of our memories, so don't you dare cast another illusion on yourself!" Tsuna ordered.

"Don't cause trouble for Jyuudaime!" Gokudera exclaimed as he burst into the room. Cain, who was drinking a cup of water, spit some out and choked on the rest.

"Kufufu. Both of you puppies are amusing." Mukuro quickly frowned when he heard a voice.

"Mukuro-sama!" Ken pushed Gokudera out of the doorway, causing him to growl. "Natsuyoshi, how could you get Mukuro-sama hurt, byon!" he yelled.

"It's Tsunayoshi!" he corrected before glaring at the boy who made up the nickname. Cain was still coughing and didn't notice, though he involuntarily shivered. "Anyway, it's his fault for getting purposely wounded. You really think he's weak enough to lose against Mammon?"

"I told you there was nothing to worry about, Ken," Chikusa said from a fair distance away.

"No, someone needs to worry about me! What are you people doing?" Cain asked after he finally cleared the water out of his lungs.

"We don't need to worry about you. You'll stay alive even if we shot you in the heart. I bet your mother will break that block of ice one day and come back and kill us," said Tsuna.

"Tsuna, don't jinx it. That's the last thing we need," Shira warned.

"No, go ahead. Jinx us all. I want my mom to come back," Cain stated.

"Well I don't want her to come back, byon!" Ken protested.

"Who is Cain-dono's mother?" Basil asked.

"The sweetest mom in the entire world," said Cain.

"A devil in the form of a human," the others disagreed.

"How can you say that? She's the only reason we actually got three meals a day!"

"And that meal was filled with bugs and food poisoning. It was on par with Bianchi's Poison Cooking," said Tsuna. Ken made a gagging motion.

"Jyuudaime, I had no idea you shared the same fate as me!" Gokudera fawned.

"I'd say I had a crueler fate than you, Gokudera-kun," Tsuna muttered under his breath. "Well, I'll just be heading out now."

"Jyuudaime, should I follow you?" Gokudera offered.

"No, you can just rest," he answered as he closed the door behind him. He had walked for a while when he heard a familiar voice.

"Tsuna-kun!"

"Tsuna-sama."

Tsuna turned around to see Kyoko and Nagi. "Kyoko-chan, Nagi! Eh? Why do you two look like you're ready to go outside?"

Kyoko giggled. "We're in Italy, so I thought it would be okay to sightsee."

"That's a good idea. Let's invite everyone else, too!" Tsuna exclaimed.

"Actually, Onii-chan and Yamamoto-san seem to be too busy to goand the others seem injured from that sumo competition," Kyoko informed.

_She actually still believes that? _He thought in incredibility. "I-is that so?"

"Mukuro-nii-sama is nowhere to be found. Ken and Chikusa don't want to go. The other person who'll go with us is Kyouya-kun. He's waiting outside," Nagi continued.

_Those three are all in the infirmary. Wait! _"Kyouya-kun? Not only did you call him that but he actually agreed to go out?" Tsuna asked in disbelief. Was the world ending?

"Oh, Reborn-chan also said something to him," Kyoko recalled.

"Oh, I guess that makes a lot more sense. Wait for me. I'll go get my coat." Tsuna ran back to his room, his face now turning red. _I get to hang out with Kyoko-chan! But still, how did Reborn convince Kyouya, who hates crowds, to go?_

* * *

Tsuna allowed himself to relax as he watched Kyoko and Nagi talk excitedly about the stores, though Kyoko was the one doing all the talking. Nagi was just smiling and nodding along. He and Hibari were sitting at a table outside, far away as possible from each other.

Kyoko pretty much led the group around the streets even though Tsuna was the only one who actually visited before. She went to places that interested her, and that was how they got around. If they ever got lost, Tsuna would "guess" which direction to go.

"Tsuna-kun, look! It's an ice-skating rink!" Kyoko pointed out.

"You're right. Kyoko-chan, do you want to try to ice-skate?" Tsuna asked.

"Yes! Nagi-chan, Hibari-san, you try it too!" Kyoko waved to the two behind them.

Tsuna walked up to the old woman who rented out ice skates. "Um…"

"Sì? Che cosa avete bisogno? (Yes? What do you need?)" she asked in Italian.

_Oh right. This is Italy. Good thing I still remember how to speak it. _"Vorrei quattro paia di pattini da ghiaccio. (I would like four pairs of ice skates)."

"Compreso. (Understood.)" She went to get four pairs of shoes that would match their sizes. "Spero che la data va bene. (I hope your date goes well.)" She winked at Tsuna, who turned red.

"N-no, vi sbagliate. E 'solo un amico. (N-no, you are mistaken. She is only a friend.)" The lady, however, giggled, muttering something about how shy kids were these days. Tsuna decided to ignore her as he handed out the ice skates.

"Amazing, Tsuna-kun! I never knew you could speak Italian fluently," Kyoko commented.

"Er, Tou-san was part Italian, so we were taught how to speak it," he half-lied. It was true that his dad was part Italian but he learned Italian from the other kids at the Estraneo.

"Mukuro-nii-sama also taught it to me," Nagi added.

"Hn," was Hibari's only response.

"So, when are you three going to put the skates on?" Kyoko asked as she was already on the ice.

Tsuna paled. Why did he forget the last time he went ice skating? Or any other winter sport for that matter? They all involved Xanxus getting mad at one of his subordinates and shooting the places in front of Tsuna. And then there were Mukuro and Mammon who cast their illusions all over the place. Okay, so they weren't there now, but Hibari was there. Who knows what will happen?

* * *

On a high location, Reborn watch with his Leon binoculars. "Hmm. I wonder if this date will progress any further."

His companion shrugged. "A romantic date in winter, eh? How would I know what would happen next? It's not like I actually read any of the romance novels Hana gives me."

"Would you like to go to that rink?" Reborn asked.

"Not until I get used to walking like this. I still can't believe you just 'happened' to have ankle braces lying around."

"Kufufu. I would think the Arcobaleno had predicted this outcome," deduced Mukuro.

"Who knows," was the baby's vague response.

"So, someone remind me why you had to drag us out here. Not that I mind or anything, but I don't see a point in us being here," Shira said. She looked around when the baby was no longer there. "Reborn? Now where did he go?"

"Kufufu. Now we don't have a way to get down, since you have a bad leg and my arm is in a sling," Mukuro stated. The high place they were at was on a narrow, five-feet-tall strip of concrete that was randomly place on the roof of a high building.

* * *

_Slowly, slowly. There are no blood-thirsty assassins here, _Tsuna told himself as he slowly made his way to the ground…and fell.

Kyoko, who already got the hang of it, skated over to him and offered him her hand. "Are you okay, Tsuna-kun? If you want, I could help you. After all, you are terrible at sports."

Tsuna grabbed her hand. "Th-thank you, Kyoko-chan."

"Herbivore, hurry up and move," Hibari grumbled. Tsuna was very shocked to see that he and Nagi were holding hands. There was no way Reborn told him to do this. He was very glad Mukuro was not here to see this (or so he thought). Tsuna quickly stood back up again…and fell again. This time, he slid away and knocked over someone else. "Scusi (Sorry)," he apologized.

"Va tutto bene (It's okay)." The person he bumped into continued skating as if nothing happened.

* * *

Mukuro kept a smile on his face though the cracking binoculars he held told another story. "How dare that skylark dare hold my Nagi's hand. I knew I should have taunted him more last night."

Next to him, Shira groaned. "I can't take it anymore! Get me down there so I can show that idiot how to ice-skate properly! He's so pitiful I can't even laugh if I could!"

"Kufufu. You can't laugh or smile anyway, Shirayuki."

"I know that perfectly well and do not call me Shirayuki!" she hissed. "Ah, his glasses fell off." She watched as Tsuna fell again and this time, his glasses fell to the ice. An ice-skater who clearly didn't care about where he was going ran them over. He felt his way out of the rink and sat down. His head turned in Shira's and Mukuro's direction.

"Kufufu. He's increased his range again," Mukuro mused.

"Unfortunately. Now he knows we're here," Shira pouted.

"Oya? So you can make that kind of face now?"

"She's been able to make that face for three years," said a voice behind them. Shira almost jumped when she saw her twin hovering behind them.

"Ts-Tsuna, when did you get here?"

"Since I noticed you two hiding out here," he replied. "Putting that aside, why are you here? Shouldn't you still be in the infirmary?"

"Kufufu. It was all the Arcobaleno's idea," Mukuro answered.

"I knew it. So all this is part of his scheme. Too bad he's out of my range right now." Tsuna landed on the ground and put a hand to his head. "Well, I'm guessing you two can't get down?"

"Would we still be here if we could?" Shira deadpanned.

"I was just asking. Would you like some help getting down or would you rather keep your pride?"

"What pride?" both Shira and Mukuro asked.

"I really should have expected this response. I blame all this ice skating for dulling my intuition."

"This coming from the guy who can play soccer in the rain for hours while still predicting the opposing team's next five moves."

"That isn't all that bad. It's skiing that I hate."

"Are you kidding me? That is easy!"

"Say that when some trigger-happy Varia Boss shoots every single second at the ground in front of you!"

"You dodged every single shot and made it to the foot of the mountain in one piece!"

"It doesn't change the fact that I could have died!"

"Oh, come on. You got traumatized just because of one little incident."

"I could say the same to you."

"Kufufu. Though I would enjoy listening to you twins bicker more, I would appreciate getting off before your time is up and you go back to being unable to see inanimate objects," Mukuro interrupted.

"Now that you mention it, I don't have much time left. But I can't carry the both of you at once. Thank God Mukuro is an illusion."

Shira immediately kicked the illusion Mukuro down with her good leg. "There. Problem solved."

"Even if that is an illusion, you are heartless," Tsuna stated as he picked her up.

"I'm not heartless. I'm cold," she argued.

"Was that a pun?" Tsuna landed in a dark alleyway and the flame on his forehead flickered out.

"Was it? I don't know."

"Is that so? I'll just be getting back to Kyoko-chan now." Tsuna started walking.

"Ah, watch out for the—" she winced as a loud crash could be heard, "Too late."

"Where are my glasses when you need them?" Tsuna grumbled as he got back up.

"Crushed by a pair of ice skates last I checked," she replied bluntly.

"Then where are the spares when you need them?"

"Probably still in your luggage."

"There goes that date."

"How will we ever explain this?"

"Yes, how will we?"

"I know!" Tsuna looked at her in hope. "We'll tell her you were not paying attention and skated off the rink and ran into a couple of thugs who beat you up so you had to return to the mansion," she said quickly without pausing for a breath.

"There's no way she's going to believe that! Besides, I'm not even beat up!"

"You will be by the time you'll get back since you'll be bumping into all sorts of things on the way."

Tsuna sighed. "You're no help at all."

"Of course not. That will never change."

"Shira."

"What?"

"Thank you."

Shira looked confused. Tsuna could tell from the way her flame fluctuated. "For what?"

"I don't know. I just felt like saying it." He felt a hand on his forehead. "What are you doing?"

"I'm checking to see if you're sick. Do you know how creepy it is hearing those words from you? I've never done anything to be thanked." She removed her hand. "And strangely enough, your temperature is completely normal."

"I'm not sick. Can we just go back now?" Tsuna asked tiredly.

"Sure. Just watch out for walls, windows, and doors. Maybe stairs too." She ran off.

* * *

"Tsuna-kun, what happened to you?" Kyoko asked when she, Nagi, and Hibari returned. Tsuna probably had a lot of bruises and some scrapes. Not to mention he couldn't find a spare pair of glasses.

"I-I tripped over a couple of things." It was a much better excuse than the one Shira came up with since it was actually the truth.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I'm completely fine, Kyoko-chan," he assured. _Where is my room again?_

"Do you need any help?"

"N-no. I'm fine. Thanks for the offer though."

Kyoko looked like she was going to say more when Nana passed by. "Ara, Kyoko-chan. How are you?"

"I'm great, Sawada-san. I got to visit the city," she replied.

"Well, would you like to help me cook?"

"Eh? You're cooking, Kaa-san?" Tsuna asked.

"Yes. I got permission from Timoteo. I'm so happy to be cooking again! And this place has such a nice kitchen too!" Nana smiled.

"Really? Then I'd love to help Nagi-chan, you come too!" Kyoko invited.

Nagi looked at Nana. "You can come too, Nagi," Nana stated.

Nagi nodded. They all walked to the kitchen together. Tsuna sighed. "Now that I've wormed my way out of that situation, how do get to my room without arousing any suspicion?"

* * *

**So chapters are taking slower to upload. This is bad. I think it's because I'm focused on typing something else. On a side note, the Italian translations were taken from Google, so they may not be accurate. That and I am horrible at writing dates and romance.  
**

**And now I'll go on to the poll. So far, every character except Yamamoto, Cain, Lussuria, and Levi have been voted for. Wow. No one voted for Yamamoto. That is a shock. We also have a three-way tie. I only want a two-way tie. You people always torment me with these ties.  
**

**Anyway, feel free to read my newly-posted, could-turn-into-a-series oneshot. I am creating more work for myself. Woohoo. *insert sarcasm here*  
**

**Look forward to the next chapter because that is going to have three flashbacks. Good thing I already typed out Yamamoto's flashback. I'll update this when the next chapter, whenever it gets posted. Woe is the author who's running out of ideas.  
**


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